Pop Quiz!
by Myra109
Summary: When Hera appears and gives the demigods a quiz about Leo's life, they realize that maybe they don't know Leo so well. Or the seven get a pop quiz, fail it, and have to watch Leo's memories! Child abuse, self harm, suicide attempt, underage drinking, etc, there will be some rape, but it won't be terribly graphic, other warnings inside
1. Pop Quiz, Demigods!

_Hello!_

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

 _Thank you to Dawnbreak55 for the idea! Also, this is a spin off of One Shot A Day, chapter 29: To Hell And Back, but you don't have to read that to understand this._

* * *

I guess it began with the pancakes.

You see, the seven- except for Leo, who was catching up on some repairs- were eating breakfast, and Jason and Percy were arguing over which was better: pancakes or waffles.

"They're the same thing for Pete's sake!" Piper sighed.

Jason and Percy gasped as they spun around to face her.

"They are not the same thing!" Jason sputtered, horrified. "Waffles are way better!"

"No, pancakes!"

"Waffles!"

"Pancakes!"

"Waffles!"

"Pancakes!"

"Waff-"

"Honestly, I think pancakes are better."

"Hah!" Percy shouted before his back went rigid. "Wait, what are you doing here?" He growled as he turned to face Hera.

She was standing in the doorway, towering over the demigods, but her expression caught them off guard. She was disappointed without a doubt, but she also looked... kind of sad. Like a mother may look when they find out their child is getting bullied.

"I am here to discuss Leo Valdez," she said.

"Leo... wait, where is Leo?" Hazel demanded.

"He's right here," Hera informed her, snapping her fingers.

Leo appeared on the floor at her feet, unconscious.

"Leo!" Piper shouted, springing to her feet and reached for her friend, but she hissed and pulled her hand back. It was blistered.

"You cannot touch him, for this may interrupt the process."

"Process?" Annabeth said, her voice flat. "What process?"

"You do not know Leo Valdez at all. Before you can protest, I have a way to prove it to you. I have a quiz over Leo's past for you, and before you can complain, the world outside is frozen. The quicker you take the quiz and go through with the process, the quicker you can continue your quest and get home. Good luck, demigods."

Hera vanished, leaving a piece of paper on the table.

Annabeth picked it up. "At least it's only twenty questions and not a hundred, like the teachers at school used to give us. Now, let's get to it."

 **1\. What was Leo's mom's name?**

 **A. Elena**

 **B. Ana**

 **C. Lola**

 **D. Esperanza**

"Oh, that's easy," Hazel told them. "Esperanza."

 **2\. How many foster homes did Leo go to, excluding orphanges and group homes?**

 **A. Seven**

 **B. Six**

 **C. Nine**

 **D. Eleven**

"Six," Piper informed them.

 **3\. How many foster homes was Leo abused and/or neglected in?**

 **A. Zero**

 **B. Two.**

 **C. Five**

 **D. One**

The group paused.

"Go with one," Jason said. "It wouldn't be on the quiz if it was zero."

 **4\. What was the name of Leo's first foster mother?**

 **A. Sarah**

 **B. Teresa**

 **C. Zoe**

 **D. Christina**

"Christina," Annabeth told them. "He mentioned a foster mother named Chris once. Maybe short for Christina?"

 **5\. How many gangs has Leo been involved in?**

 **A. Zero**

 **B. One**

 **C. Two**

 **D. Three**

"Zero. You think Leo would've mentioned if he were in a gang," Jason told them.

 **6\. What was the name of Leo's first lover?**

 **A. Stephanie**

 **B. Sam**

 **C. Andrew**

 **D. Lily**

"Let's go with... Lily. I think he mentioned a Lily once," Frank said, "while we were on guard duty."

 **7\. How old is Leo?**

 **A. Fifteen**

 **B. Sixteen**

 **C. Seventeen**

 **D. Fourteen**

"Fifteen. He'll be sixteen on July 7th," Piper said.

 **8\. How did Leo's mom die?**

 **A. Fire**

 **B. Machine shop accident**

 **C. Car crash**

 **D. Cancer**

"B," Jason told them, shortly. "He told us back on the quest for Hera."

 **9\. How many of these deaths did Leo witness?**

 **A. Holly Westland**

 **B. Julia Smith**

 **C. Brandon and Alice Marshall**

 **D. All of the above**

"Go with Julia," Percy said after a pregnant pause. "That name sounds familiar."

 **10\. Which of these is a fear of Leo's?**

 **A. Fire**

 **B. Enclosed spaces**

 **C. Dying**

 **D. Both A and B**

"Go with C. I mean, isn't everyone at least a little afraid of dying?" Frank told them.

 **11\. What was Leo's worst foster home?**

 **A. 4**

 **B. 5**

 **C. 3**

 **D. 1**

"Let's go with 1," Hazel told them.

 **12\. Why did Leo run away from his last foster home?**

 **A. Bullying**

 **B. Abuse**

 **C. Gangs**

 **D. Habit**

"Habit," Annabeth suggested. "After running away from so many foster homes, he probably didn't know what else to do."

 **13\. Where is Leo's most prominent scar?**

 **A. Arm**

 **B. Back**

 **C. Stomach**

 **D. Chest**

"Back?" Percy said, but they could all tell by his tone of voice that he wasn't really sure.

 **14\. How old was Leo when he first drank alcohol?**

 **A. 12**

 **B. 9**

 **C. 10**

 **D. 13**

"It better be 13, and remind me to chew Leo out for underage drinking later," Annabeth told them.

"Me, too," Piper agreed.

 **15\. What was the name of Leo's social worker?**

 **A. Martin Blake**

 **B. James Monroe**

 **C. Carlos Tarahoe**

 **D. Jessica Londons**

"Jessica, maybe. I really don't know," Jason said. "Leo never really talked about his past."

"Wonder why," Annabeth muttered.

 **16\. What was the name of Leo's cousin?**

 **A. Raphael**

 **B. Andres**

 **C. Michael**

 **D. Diego**

"Andres?" Piper said. "Leo never mentioned a cousin."

 **17\. How long was Leo at his second foster home?**

 **A. Two weeks**

 **B. 1 month**

 **C. 1 month and two weeks**

 **D. Two months**

"A? Leo doesn't seem like he'd stay in one place very long," Frank said.

 **18\. Where does Leo have the MOST scars?**

 **A. Back**

 **B. Chest**

 **C. Wrists**

 **D. Legs**

"Back, maybe," Percy suggested.

 **19\. What is the longest time Leo went without sleep?**

 **A. Four days**

 **B. Two days**

 **C. Five days**

 **D. A week**

"B," Jason said without hesitation.

 **20\. How often has Leo considered running away from Camp?**

 **A. Never**

 **B. Once**

 **C. Ten times**

 **D. A dozen times**

There was a long pause.

"A," Piper finally whispered. "It's gotta be A."

The paper vanished, and for several moments, the six sat there in silence, gazing at their unconscious friend.

After several moments, Hera reappeared, looking disappointed.

"It's time for the process. You will all be watching Leo's memories- both good and bad. Throughout this, you will not wake him, nor will you touch him. If you do, you'll get quite a few burns like Piper here."

"Why do we have to do this?" Annabeth asked.

"Because you got all but one wrong on the quiz."

"What!?" The demigods gasped.

* * *

 _Well, tell me what you think. Anything I can improve on? Thanks for reading!_


	2. Mamá y Tia Callida

_Sorry for the delay, but 2nd semester... forget Hell. The 2nd semester of school is worse (I'm exaggerating, but you get my point)_

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

* * *

 _Peviously on Pop Quiz!_

 _"Because you got all but one wrong on the quiz."_

 _"What?!" The demigods gasped._

* * *

"B-But-" Piper stammered. "What about number two? Leo told me he ran away from six foster homes; we had to have gotten that one right and the one about Leo's mom!"

"He said he _ran away_ from six foster homes. He didn't say he went to six foster homes," Hera corrected. "Now, I suggest you all sit because you're not getting out of this."

She vanished, leaving a few couches and a flat screen television in her wake.

"I gotta admit; that's pretty cool," Percy said before sitting beside Annabeth on one of the sofas. Frank and Hazel curled up on one to their left while Jason and Piper seated themselves on the one to the right.

Still unconscious, Leo shifted, mumbling in his sleep about tea and fireplaces and snakes and nightgowns.

Piper giggled. "That's Leo's mind for you!"

The television flickered to life, revealing a beautiful woman. She was tall and thin with long brown hair that cascaded down her back; her eyes were chocolate brown and sparkling with love and humor. In her overalls, her profession was made clear, if the oil and grease had anything to say about it. Her smile lit up the room.

"There's a picture of her on Leo's wall," Piper whispered. "I never asked him who it was."

"Neither did I," Annabeth agreed. "It's in Bunker Nine, too."

The screen zoomed out to reveal a toddler sitting in front of her. He was scrawny and lacked the baby fat that a usual toddler had for some reason; his hair and eyes were the same color as the woman's. In his jean shorts and blue T-shirt, he looked like any other kid, but he wasn't.

He was Leo Valdez... a bite sized version, but still Leo.

"Aw, he was so cute!" Piper squealed. Jason subtly scooted away.

"Jason..."

"Sorry, dear."

Percy stiffled a laugh while Annabeth watched in amusement. Frank smiled at their antics, and Hazel openly giggled.

 _Turning back to the scream, the woman held up a toy boat._

 _"El barco," she said. "Boat."_

 _Leo stared at her._

 _"Come on, Leo. Here, easy one. Muy facíl." (Very easy)_

 _She smiled and pointed to herself. "Máma."_

 _Leo said nothing._

 _"Por favor, Leo. Dice Mamá," she begged. (Please, Leo. Say Mom/Mommy/Mama [Mamá means all three])_

 _Leo didn't speak_.

Subtitles appeared at the bottom of the scream.

 **Leo was very slow to talk. He was smart and clever, but speaking was not his forte, nor was physical activity. Leo did not say his first word until he was four, one week before he entered preschool.**

Piper frowned. "I never knew that. With how much Leo talks, I thought he was born talking."

"Agreed," Jason told her.

 **He was often teased for it,** the screen read, **which leads into the next memory.**

The image changed to an image of a still scrawny Leo sitting on a bench at a school playground. He was a little older, maybe four, and his hair had grown longer and more unruly. The small boy wore a baggy gray T-shirt and jeans; his eyes still sparkled with humor, but now, they shown with something else... loneliness.

The expression didn't suit the fun loving joker.

" _Well, if it isn't the boy that can't talk."_

The screen spanned out to display three boys standing in front of Leo in classic bully stance. The boy in the middle was the tallest and by the look in his eye, the meanest. He wore a nice blue hoodie with a red and white striped shirt and crisp blue jeans. The boy to his left was quiet and kind of nervous looking, but it was well hidden; he wore a red shirt with simple black pants. The boy to the right was built like a tank and had eyes of steel, emotionless, like he had no heart.

 _Leo looked up from his lap and stared at the boys._

 _"What are you, dumb?" The boy in the middle sneered. "Mommy too stupid to teach you?"_

 _Leo leapt to his feet so suddenly, the seven jumped. The boys actually took a step back._

 _Leo didn't speak, but he jabbed a finger into the middle boy's chest, making his meaning clear: don't talk about my mom that way._

 _"Ooh, a bit defensive," the boy to the right sneered. "Why are you so defensive of a woman that can't work hard enough to keep a man or clothe and feed her son?"_

"How can someone so little be so mean?" Frank whispered.

"Oh, trust me," Hazel said, flatly. "Little people are the cruelest people of all, in my experience."

No one said anything, but Frank wrapped an arm around her, and they all turned to face the screen.

 _Leo glared at the boy and went to take a step forward (probably to hit him), but the boy on the right shoved him, sending him sprawling to the ground._

 _The middle and right boy walked off, but the nervous one on the left stayed behind._

 _He knelt down and helped Leo to his feet, assisting in the task of brushing the mulch off Leo's clothes._

 _"Mikey, come on!" The middle boy yelled from somewhere else on the playground._

 _Mikey smiled and disappeared into the crowd of students._

 **Mikey was the only one at that school that ever showed the slightest bit of kindness to Leo. Remember him; this isn't the last time you'll be seeing Michael Wilkerson.**

The image changed to that of a small apartment, a kitchen, more precisely. Leo was seated on the counter with his mom next to him, rifling through the cabinets.

Leo certainly looked different than he did now. He was even scrawnier, and you could clearly count his ribs through his shirt, which was covered in oil stains and dirt. His skin was pale and dirty, like he hadn't had a bath in a while. He was maybe two years old.

More subtitles appeared.

 **Leo's mother was a great mechanic, but no one would hire her because she was a woman. Therefore, working at a small warehouse trying to prove herself, earned her minimum wage. Feeding and clothing both herself and Leo was difficult.**

 _Esperanza pulled back from the fridge. "I'm sorry, mijo. We don't have anything to eat."_

 _He smiled, as if to say 'it's okay, Mamá.'_

 _Esperanza understood him perfectly. "No, it's not okay, Leo. You should be growing strong and healthy, but... you're not."_

 _Leo reached up and wrapped his arms around her neck. I love you, Mamá, his eyes read._

 _"I love you, too, mijo."_

Annabeth sighed. "He's so much wiser than we thought he was."

The next image popped up, displaying Leo Valdez, only two years old, cradled in the arms of a woman.

She reminded them scarily of Gaea. Her hands were pale, but the rest of her body was shrouded in black clothes, almost like a stereotypical horror movie bad guy. Whispering to Leo, she seemed to be speaking Greek... or maybe Latin; it was hard to tell.

" _Let's see if you are my strong warrior," she whispered in English._

The six exchanged glances. That didn't sound good.

 _Slowly, she walked over to the hearth that burned brightly in the small room; then, she... she..._

"That bitch!" Jason screamed, startling everyone. "What kind of person puts an effing baby in a fireplace?"

"Apparently her," Percy muttered, but his eyes were a tsunami- angry, strong, and unstoppable. "Who is she?"

"Hera," Piper whispered. "Leo told us about his babysitter, Tia Callida. Could it be the same person?"

No one responded.

 _The woman rocked in her rocking chair, singing softly in Greek (it was definitely Greek now), while Leo giggled and caught sparks with his hands._

 _The position of the sun changed outside, showing the passage of time. Possibly a few hours had gone by, but the scene hadn't changed._

Piper gritted her teeth. "He's only immune to fire, not smoke."

The others shifted, uncomfortably. To tell you the truth, none of them had known that, but Piper had seen Leo collapse once when there was a fire in Bunker Nine. He'd put it out, but the lack of oxygen that was caused by the smoke going into his lungs caused him to go the Infirmary. Jason had known that Leo was in the hospital, but not why.

 _The door opened and in walked Esperanza, who screamed so loudly, there were several crashes outside the window and one man shouted, "Where's the fire?"_

"Uh... that's kind of funny," Frank said.

Despite the situation, the others couldn't stiffle their chuckles.

 _Esperanza yanked Leo from the flames and yelled at the woman to go away, but she was already gone._

The image changed again.

 _This time, Leo was seated on the kitchen floor, minding his own business as he played with his Legos, when suddenly, someone kicked his toys away._

 _Leo looked up, glaring daggers at Hera, disguised as Tia Callida._

"Esperanza let her babysit Leo again!" Hazel shrieked. "After what happened?"

"Well, you can't exactly forbid the queen of the gods from entering your home without getting zapped," Percy pointed out.

 _Hera knelt on the floor and placed several blades of the floor from a butter knife to a steak knife._

 _"You must know your blades well, if you are to be my hero," she said._

"Children that age shouldn't be playing with scissors, much less knives!" Annabeth seethed.

The memory vanished, replaced by a new one.

 _Leo was standing beside Hera, helping her cook. It would've been rather cute if she hadn't squirted jalapeño juice in his eye._

Frank winced. "Ooh... that's worse than lemon juice."

"She did that on purpose!" Percy growled.

" _Fight through the pain," Hera commanded._

 _Leo stopped whimpering, but continued to rub at his eyes and allow tears to fall._

 _"Fight, my warrior. You will face much more pain than that in your life, I'm afraid."_

 _Leo stopped crying all together, rubbing his eyes one last time, before continuing to help cook, all while staying very far away from the jalapeños._

"Geesh," Jason muttered. "I was expecting a lot more crying; I mean, I've never squirted jalapeño in my eye, but I've squirted lemon juice. If it's even worse with jalapeños, I expected Leo to be bawling by now."

"Maybe he is stronger than we know," Hazel whispered.

The six stared at the teenage boy, who had been through so much, and yet, still smiled everyday. Still joked and made others laugh when he was so broken on the inside.

But maybe he's not broken. Maybe he's just a little bent. And maybe they need to fix him before he does shatter. Because once that happens, there's no getting Leo back.

 _The image changed to Leo standing in the field behind an apartment complex with Hera, holding a stick. On the ground at their feet, a rattlesnake stared up at them._

 _"Where is your bravery, hero?" Hera said._

 _Leo stared at her as if to say where is your sanity before shaking his head._

 _"Not fair," he said before throwing the stick on the ground._

 _The rattlesnake stared at Hera, like are you nuts, lady? before it slithered away into the tall grass._

 _The image transformed, but Hera and Leo were still behind the apartment complex, except now, they were seated at a picnic table._

 _Leo was drawing with crayons while Hera sang that strange Greek lullaby when suddenly, a strong wind swept Leo's picture away._

"The picture of the Argo II," Piper whispered. "So that's how it wound up with Aeolus."

"Leo's been dreaming about his creation since he was so young," Jason murmured.

"Well, no wonder it means so much to him," Annabeth said. "He's been connected with it since way before it was built."

 _The young fire user looked ready to cry, but Hera just clucked her tongue._

 _"How disappointing. It is not your time yet, hero. But don't worry, it will come. Now, why don't you make me a fire? Warm these old bones."_

 _Leo's hands caught fire._

 _When Esperanza returned, she found her only son surrounded by orange flames, and she yanked him from the fire, probably burning herself in the process. The flames, not very hot to begin with, sputtered and died._

 _The entire scene changed._

 _Leo was maybe eight years old with longer brown curls and sparkling brown eyes. He was wearing oil stained jeans and a blue shirt; he looked healthier than he had before, showing that their financial issues had gotten better since Leo was a toddler. He was walking alongside his mother, who patted her pockets, presumedly for her keys, looking confused._

 _They were standing in a machine shop._

* * *

 _There will be more memories of Leo's childhood later on, but they will probably be connected with future events. I will tell you that beyond that, the memories will be mostly chronological because that makes it easier for me to write and you to understand._


	3. Tia Rosa and Miss Teresa

_Hello, everyone, I'm back! Also, I've taken some of this chapter from my other story, One Shot A Day, Chapter 29, To Hell and Back, although I've changed the order of the events. This is somewhat based off of Flowers in the Attic._

 ** _ALSO, IMPORTANT: I AM GETTING READY TO POST A NEW STORY. I HAVE THE SUMMARIES FOR A FEW OF MY IDEAS ON MY PROFILE. PLEASE READ THEM AND EITHER VOTE ON THE POLL OR REVIEW WHICH STORY YOU'D LIKE ME TO POST ON ANY OF MY !_**

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing._**

 ** _WARNINGS: CHILD ABUSE, MOLESTATION (THE SECTION WILL BE BOLDED IF YOU'D LIKE TO SKIP IT), LANGUAGE_**

* * *

After the memory of Leo's mom dying, the seven were in tears. Hazel was sobbing into Frank's shoulder; Frank had tears in his eyes, and they were slowly making their way down his cheeks. Annabeth just stared at the screen, trying to comprehend it all while Percy held her close; both were so close to tears that if they started crying, they wouldn't be able to stop. Piper was crying softly, muttering Leo's name over and over again while Jason actually cried. None of them, not even Piper, had ever seen Jason cry.

"Shit," Percy mumbled.

Annabeth reached for the Pop Quiz, which Hera had left on the table and searched for the question.

 **8\. How did Leo's mom die?**

 **A. Fire**

 **B. Machine shop accident**

 **C. Car crash**

 **D. Cancer**

A black circle was drawn around B, where they'd decided on their answer. The wrong one. She picked up a red pen, as though she were going to grade it, and circled A.

One, correct. One, down. Eighteen, more to go.

 _The image changed to Leo sitting in a hospital bed. He wasn't burned (obviously), but there were a few bruises that hadn't been caused by the fire._

 _"Mamá... Mamá... dónde está mi mamá?" (Where is my mom?) He murmured before crying out. "Mamá!"_

 _He punched himself hard in the ribs._

The seven gasped. Leo had caused himself those bruises.

 _"Please, Ms. Valdez!" A male voice called. "He's your nephew, and he needs you now more than ever."_

 _"He killed my sister!"_

 _"He's eight years old! What child is capable of that?"_

 _"The devil child!"_

 _Two people stormed into the room._

 _One was a man with black hair and brown eyes. He wore a gray suit, and from the scowl on his face, they could tell he was not happy with the woman standing beside him._

 _She was a short Latina with black hair and dark, cruel eyes. There was a mole on the side of her nose. She wore a black dress with a black veil clipped back, the outfit of someone in mourning._

"Rosa," Hazel muttered.

"What?" Frank asked her.

"Nemesis. She shows the person you want revenge on most; she turned into Leo's Aunt Rosa."

That can't be good, Annabeth thought.

 _The minute she saw Leo, she went off._

 _"Diablo!" She screeched, diving at Leo and back handing him so hard across the face, he fell off the bed. She took this as an opportunity to kick his trembling frame. "You killed my sister! I wish you were dead and not Esperanza, you bastard child."_

"Oh, gods," Piper murmured, more tears springing to her eyes.

 _"Security!" The man was shouting._

 _Rosa punched Leo in the back, causing him to curl into the fetal position to avoid as much pain as possible._

 _"¡Tía Rosa, lo siento! ¡Por favor deje de! ¡Lo siento!"_

 _Translations appeared across the bottom of the screen:_

 _Aunt Rosa, I'm sorry! Please stop! I'm sorry!_

 _"I am not your aunt, diablo. Demon child! And sorry will never make up for what you've done," Rosa snapped, her voice low and dangerously quiet._

 _Security guards rushed inside and yanked her away from the shaking child, who didn't bring his arms down from where they were protecting his face._

 _The man slowly walked over and sat a good distance away from Leo; he reached over and grabbed Leo's wrists, gently bringing them away from his face. On Leo's cheek, where Rosa's hand had met his skin, there was a red handprint that was slowly turning a mixture of black and purple._

 _"Hello, Leo. I'm Martin Blake, your social worker. And I promise that I'm going to find a good home for you."_

Annabeth picked up the paper and ran her finger down the page in search of the question.

 **15\. What was the name of Leo's social worker?**

 **A. Martin Blake**

 **B. James Monroe**

 **C. Carlos Tarahoe**

 **D. Jessica Londons**

They'd guessed Jessica; Annabeth circled A in red ink.

 _Leo was sitting on the top bunk of a bed, swinging his legs back and forth as he stared at nothing. His mind was obviously elsewhere. There was a small suitcase beside him and a backpack. He was fiddling with some wires._

 _The door opened, and Martin walked inside._

 _He held out his hand. "Come along, Leo. Ms. Wilkes is waiting."_

 _Leo nodded and hopped off of the bunk before reaching up and grabbing the suitcase and backpack. He followed Martin from the room._

 _The image changed to that of a neat and orderly house. It was clean and something you'd see on a street full of upper middle class people. Painted blue with a nice silver car in the driveway. It looked like a dollhouse._

 _Martin knocked, and Barbie answered the door._

 _You think I'm kidding? Ms. Wilkes sure looked like Barbie. Her hair was blonde and pulled up in a nice, professional bun. She had blue eyes and wore a blue dress to match; it was long, almost down to her ankles. She'd obviously just come from somewhere fancy._

 _"Hello, Mr. Blake. Sorry I'm so dressed up; I just got back from a fancy lunch with my boss. Come on in."_

 _Martin smiled at her and stepped inside the home; Leo was hiding behind his legs, which the seven saw as odd, seeing as Leo was usually so outgoing._

 _The interior of the house was just as beautiful and pristine as the exterior. In the sitting room, the floor was perfectly clean, not a speck of dirt or dust anywhere. There was a television set and a table with a lamp. The sofa was white and looked as though it'd never been sat on._

 _"You must be Leo," Ms. Wilkes said, kneeling down and holding out a hand. "I'm Teresa."_

 _Martin nudged Leo, and Leo reached out a hand to shake Teresa's. She gripped it in an almost bone crushing grip, judging from Leo's flinch, but maybe they'd imagined it._

 _She let him go and returned to a standing position._

 _Turning to Martin, she smiled and said, "Thank you for bringing him. Do you need to take a look around?"_

 _"Oh, no, we've already looked through your house to ensure that it was a safe environment for Leo," Martin assurred her, looking to Leo at the last part, as if to say 'see? Safe.'_

 _"Well, I suppose I'll see both of you again in two weeks," Martin told them. "If the home is indeed safe, I'll only come every month after that visit."_

 _"Of course. Goodbye, Mr. Blake. See you then."_

 _The adults waved goodbye to each other, but as soon as Martin's car turned the corner, Teresa grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him to the floor, towering over him and glowering down at him._

"Fuck," Hazel murmured. That would've been a cause for surprise, seeing as they'd never heard Hazel cuss, but they were too focused on the screen to notice anything else.

 _Teresa yanked on his arm until he was sitting up and they were nose to nose._

 _"From now on, I am Miss Teresa. You will speak only when spoken to and use ma'am or Miss Teresa when speaking to me. You will stay in your room unless I tell you otherwise, and I will not hear you. The room is to be kept tidy and my house keeper comes every Saturday. On that day, you will pack up any of your possessions and move to the attic._

 _"If you break a rule, you will have to suffer the consequences. This can range from no food to... more unpleasant punishments."_

 _She reached over to the couch and picked up the belt draped over it._

 _"If I must use this punishment, you will not be able to lie on your back for a week. Understood?"_

 _Leo, terrified, nodded._

 _"I said... understood?" She tapped the belt against his cheek, making it sting but not bleed. A threat._

 _"Yes, ma'am," he said, shakily._

 _"Good. Now, let's go to your room."_

 _She led him up the stairs to a small room at the back of the hallway with a single bed in the corner, a dresser, and a small table. One doorway led to a bathroom while the other was closed; it probably led to the attic._

 _She shoved him in and shut the door behind her._

 _Leo was alone._

"Oh, gods," Percy murmured.

"That bitch!" Jason exploded. "Leo never did anything to her! Why would she even foster him if she was just going to hurt him?"

"For the money," Piper growled. "The monthly check from the fucking state."

Annabeth's hand was shaking as she dug the pen into the paper, almost ripping it.

 **4\. What was the name of Leo's first foster mother?**

 **A. Sarah**

 **B. Teresa**

 **C. Zoe**

 **D. Christina**

She circled B before bringing the pen to question 3 and making a tally mark.

 _The image changed to that of the attic. It was cluttered, stocked full of old, dusty toys and knickknacks and boxes and clothes. No one had been up here for a very long time._

 _Leo was leaning against the brick wall in the least cluttered space, which was a small alcove in the farthest part of the attic. He was making an X on the wall with a piece of chalk._

Upon counting the X's on the wall, Annabeth concluded that there were now thirteen.

"It's a calender," she told the others. "He's been there for thirteen days."

 _Leo stood and walked out of the attic and down to the bedroom._

 _* **THE MOLESTATION SCENE STARTS HERE. IT NOT GRAPHIC, BUT IF YOU'D LIKE TO SKIP IT, SKIP TO THE BOTTOM OF THE BOLDED SECTION***_

 ** _As soon as he closed the attic door, Teresa stepped in and dragged him to the bathroom, quickly turning on the water to fill the bathtub._**

 ** _She started to pull his clothes off._**

 **The demigods looked ready to be sick as they realized what she was doing.**

 _ **"What-What the hell?" Leo stammered, shoving her away.**_

 _ **She sighed in exasperation. "I need to bathe you for tomorrow."**_

 _ **"I'm- I'm eight years old. I can take a bath by myself; I-I don't need help," he said.**_

 _ **She ignored him, continuing to strip him while he fought her, twisting and withering in her arms. Teresa punched him on his hip, where any bruise would surely be covered by his boxers.**_

 _ **"Stop fighting me, or I'll drown you in the tub," she growled.**_

 _ **Leo stopped. He knew she would do it.**_

 _ **She reached to take off his boxers, and the screen mercifully went black, but they could still hear Leo as he cried.**_

 _The image changed to that of the living room. It was dark outside, and Leo was creeping across the carpet on the tips of his toes. His backpack was thrown over his shoulder._

 _"Where do you think you're going?" A stern voice snapped._

 _Leo turned slowly to face Teresa, who was standing before him with her hands on her hips and she wasn't happy._

 _"Miss Teresa, I-I-"_

 _Teresa grabbed Leo by the hair and tossed him on the floor so hard, Leo's elbows banged harshly against the table, causing him to hiss in pain._

 _"Aw, is the little baby hurt?" She said in a baby voice. "Pathetic. By the time I'm done with you, you'll wish I'd killed you."_

 _Teresa ripped off Leo's backpack, followed by his jacket, before she tore his shirt off instead of just pulling it over his head, in order to cause more pain._

 _She picked up the belt off of the couch and raised it over her head._

 _"Brat," she sneered before bringing it down._

 _Leo cried out._

 _"I took you in." SMACK! "I gave you a home!" SMACK! "I feed you!" SMACK! "And this is how you repay me? By running away?" SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!_

 _Leo was biting his lip so hard, blood was pouring down his chin, mingling with his tears._

 _But then, Teresa stopped, and for a few seconds, they thought she was done._

 _SMACK!_

 _Leo screamed in agony. Blood dripped from the metal belt buckle._

 _SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!_

 _The image changed to that of a different living room, much more lived in and homey. Instead of the pristine white of Teresa's home, this was a beige color, and cartoons played on the television. A few children's toys had been left out._

 _ ***Not Leo's Memory*** had been spelled across the screen._

 _A woman- in her late forties or early fifties- was staring out the window at Teresa's home._

 _"AHHH!"_

 _"That poor boy," she whispered._

 _"It's best to stay out of it," a man said as he walked in. Pry her husband. "Now, come to bed. She'll stop soon."_

 _The woman nodded before turning out the lights and following her husband._

 _The screaming continued._

"That bitch," Percy murmured.

"Which one?" Piper growled.

"Both of them. But that woman... Leo could've died in that house, and she wouldn't have stopped it," Percy said.

The image flashed to the calender in the attic. Annabeth counted the X's. 61.

"He's been there for two months."

 _The image flashed to Leo's room. Teresa was staring at Leo, where he was sitting on the bed and staring out the window. The sun was setting._

 _ **Martin has not arrived for his monthly visit** , the screen read before the letters disappeared._

 _"I guess no one cares about you, you little runt. What a surprise," Teresa said, sarcastically._

 _Then, the screen went black and letters spread across the screen, like credits._

 ** _Another month went by, and Leo went a week and four days without food for back talking Teresa when she tried to bathe him again._**

 ** _A fourth month passed, and Teresa started really beating him, sometimes for no reason at all._**

 ** _The fifth month rolled around, and Leo had not left his room since Martin's first and only visit._**

 ** _Half way through the sixth month, Martin Blake finally showed up._**

 _"Hello, Ms. Wilkes," he said as she allowed him inside._

 _"Hello, Mr. Blake. Leo's in his room," she said. "I'm afraid I have to make a phone call."_

 _She seemed nervous as she scurried off. Wonder why?_

 _Martin walked down the hallway and arrived at Leo's room. Trying the doorknob, he found it locked._

 _With a quizzical look, he took the key off of the doorframe and unlocked the door._

 _He found Leo curled up on the bed, shivering and bundled up in sheets stained with blood._

 _"Leo!" He exclaimed._

 _"No... no more," he stammered, sounding more broken than any child, any person, should sound._

 _"Shh, Leo, it's okay."_

 **And thus, Leo's time with Teresa ended,** the screen read. **But he was never the same.**

The seven were quiet for a very long time. There was really nothing to say.

After allowing that to sink in, the screen turned on again to continue the memory viewing.

Little did the seven know, Teresa was only the tip of the iceberg.

Things were about to get a whole lot worse.

* * *

 _What'd you think? Please review, and check out that poll I told you about. Thanks!_


	4. The Abbott Family

_Hello, guys! Sorry I'm so late, but I was on vacation and couldn't find a good connection to post, but I've updated Courage, and now, I'm updating Pop Quiz! I will be writing chapters 4-10 for my chapter marathon. Thanks!_

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

 ** _WARNINGS: MURDER (Not very graphic, I promise), BRIEF CHILD NEGLECT, LANGUAGE, VERBAL ABUSE_**

* * *

 _The image displayed Martin walking towards a fairly normal house. It was two stories with clean windows and a nice lawn, but nothing was obsessively neat or perfect. It looked like an average house in an average neighborhood._

 _Leo was clinging to Martin, hiding behind him and staring at the house in apprehension. There was a healing cut on his forehead; a dark handprint shaped bruise covered half of his face._

"He looks so broken," Hazel whispered.

Jason growled, vowing to track down every single person that had ever hurt Leo and give them a piece of his mind.

Percy, as though reading Jason's mind, hissed to him, "Dude, you're taking me with you."

Jason nodded, and the seven almost felt sorry for all the people that had hurt their friend.

Almost...

 _Martin knocked on the door, and it opened to reveal a woman._

 _She was of average height with blonde hair, but this was more of a dirty blonde than Teresa's pristine yellow waves. Her eyes were wide and chocolate brown; in her magenta shirt and blue jeans, she looked nice enough. She was not the picture of perfection, like Teresa was, and her eyes lacked hatred. If anything, she appeared anxious._

 _"Hello, Mr. Blake," she smiled before turning to Leo. "You must be Leo."_

 _She knelt down to eye level and smiled, softly._

 _"I'm Maria, Maria Abbot."_

 _Leo, tentatively, held out his hand to shake her's. When she touched it, he flinched, but they could tell that he liked her, even if he was suspicious._

 _"Come on in," she instructed, stepping aside to allow them entrance._

 _Shutting the door, Maria turned to Martin._

 _"His room's right up here," she told him before leading them up the staircase._

 _Maria opened the first door on the right and beckoned them inside._

 _The room was nice. There was a twin bed pressed against the wall across from the door; above it was a window, and there was a small table beside the bed. A dresser was against the wall where the door was, and there was a desk in the far left hand corner._

 _"Do you like it?" Maria asked, a little nervously._

 _Leo smiled for the first since arriving and nodded. After the attic, this room must seem like paradise._

 _Martin grinned. "He likes you. I haven't been able to get him to smile since we got him out of there."_

 _He didn't specify, but Maria seemed to know what he meant because she nodded._

 _"We also have a library just down the hall and a swimming pool in the backyard; there's a park just down the street."_

 _"Oh, by the way, Leo can't swim," Martin added. "You're welcome to teach him if he'll let you, but Leo never learned, so until he does, best to keep him away from the swimming pool."_

 _She nodded. "Of course. Now, I'll give you a moment to say goodbye."_

 _Maria exited the room, and Leo turned to Martin._

 _"Well, Leo, she seems nice. I promise, though, if she isn't, I won't let it become like Teresa, okay? And if things do... take a turn for the worse, don't hesitate to call me."_

 _Leo surprised Martin by hugging him._

The seven were surprised, too. After Martin neglected his visits, they'd expected Leo to hold quite the grudge, but he didn't seem to care.

 _Leo pulled away from Martin._

 _"When are you coming to visit?" Leo asked._

The seven sighed in relief. Leo went so long without saying a word that they'd begun to think he'd been so traumatized, he couldn't talk.

" _I'm coming in two weeks. I promise. No more forgetting visits."_

 _Leo smiled. "Thank you."_

 _"I'll see you then, okay? And give her a chance. I know you like her, and don't let your past with adults get in the way of finding one you can trust."_

 _Leo nodded. "I promise I'll try."_

 _Martin smiled before standing and exiting the room._

 _Leo sat on the bed and pulled a photograph out of his backpack._

 _It was a picture of his mother holding him; he was maybe two or three years old._

 _Not too long after that, there was a knock on the door._

 _"Come in," Leo called, quietly, placing the picture on the bed._

 _Maria opened the door._

 _"Dinner's ready," she told him._

 _Her eyes found the photo lying on the bed, and Leo flipped it over, but she just smiled._

 _"Is that your mother?" She asked._

 _Leo nodded._

 _"I'm sure she was wonderful."_

 _Leo smiled. "She was."_

 _There was silence for several moments._

 _"Well, we'd better go eat before it gets cold."_

 _Leo nodded and stood to follow her._

"I like her," Percy smiled. "She kind of reminds me of my mom."

Percy's smile suddenly dropped.

"Percy, what's wrong?" Annabeth asked.

"It just occurred to me. We haven't met the husband yet, and... let's just say, I hope I'm wrong."

Annabeth didn't push it, but she looked curious.

 _The image changed. They were sitting at a kitchen table, eating dinner._

 _Leo looked happy. Probably after Teresa limited his food (aka starved him), he was grateful to be fed by his foster parent._

 _A crash sounded through the house, and Leo jumped._

 _"Maria!" A male voice slurred._

"Damn!" Percy cursed. "The one time I'm right."

At the curious glances, he simply glared at the screen.

"Just watch," he stated, simply.

 _A man stumbled into the kitchen._

 _He was tall with long, dark hair. His eyes were blood shot, and he obviously hadn't shaved in a while. Alcohol and sweat dripped down his shirt, and his clothes were crooked; basically, he was a wreck. A beer bottle dangled from his fingers._

 _He practically collapsed into the third chair at the table, where a third plate had been sitting._

 _"Who's he?" He asked, gesturing sharply at Leo with his fork._

 _"This is Leo, the foster child we've taken in," Maria gritted her teeth._

 _"Right," he muttered before going back to eating._

 _Leo kept his head down and ate quickly; they could tell he wanted to escape that table._

 _"Look, kid," the man said. "The rules are simple. Don't back talk; do what we tell you; and stay out of our way."_

 _Leo nodded, obediently._

 _"Jacob, you're being rude," Maria hissed._

 _"Oh, yeah, Jacob, call me Jake," the man stated as though Maria had not spoken._

 _"Nice to meet you," Leo responded, politely._

 _Jake barked a laugh. "A polite kid. That's a first."_

 _"Jacob, stop-"_

 _SLAP!_

 _Maria flew out of her chair with the force of the slap._

"Two abusive foster homes in a row. What are the odds?" Piper mumbled, bitterly.

"Something's not right," Annabeth suddenly said. "Foster homes are rarely abusive. I mean, sure, it happens, but there are background checks, surprise visits, weekly visits. The odds of having one abusive foster home is a possibilty; two is pushing it; but if there's a third, a god was interfering. Demigods have horrible luck, but our luck isn't _that_ horrible."

The demigods nodded.

"Hera?" Jason asked.

Annabeth shrugged. "I don't think so, but I'm not marking her off the list."

 _Leo jumped out of his chair and helped Maria stand._

 _Jake just muttered some very unflattering words before taking his beer and leaving the room._

 _Maria embraced Leo._

 _"It's okay. He's only like this when he's drinking. When he's sober, he's a really nice guy."_

 _Leo nodded, but they could tell he still wasn't convinced._

 _The image changed._

 _Leo was sitting on his bed with his back to the door; in his hands, he cradled a stuffed lion._

 _He may be a demigod. He may have been through some serious shit. But he was still just a kid._

They were all just kids...

 _Leo was skinnier; he obviously hadn't eaten well since that first dinner. He didn't look starved, necessarily, but he looked far from healthy. He was also dirty and wearing the same clothes he'd come with; there was obviously neglect. Luckily, he didn't show any fresh injuries._

 _Beyond his door, shouting echoed through the house._

 _"You fucking bitch!" Jake was shouting. "I bust my ass all day working. The least you can do is clean up this goddamn house."_

 _"Working? Ha! You've been through three jobs in five months, Jacob."_

 _"Well, I don't see you getting a job."_

 _"I'm taking care of Leo!"_

 _"He's what-eight, nine? He doesn't need to be taken care of full time."_

 _"He's an abused child. He still has injuries that could get infected. And we can't afford a babysitter with the right training."_

 _"Well, maybe we could if you would actually work for a change. Why did we even take the fuck up?"_

 _"Hey, don't call him that."_

 _"Well, it's true! I mean, what kid needs so much medical attention anyway?"_

 _"A child that was abused so badly, he couldn't move for **five days** after getting out of that hell house!"_

 _"Well, why didn't we get a perfectly normal kid?"_

 _"It's not Leo's fault that-"_

 _SLAP!_

 _Leo burst into tears, clamping his hands over his ears._

 _"Please, stop," he murmured._

Hazel scowled. "Jason, Percy, you're taking me with you to kill the bastards that dared to hurt Leo."

Jason smiled. "Welcome to the dark side."

"We have cookies," Percy added to try and lighten the atmosphere.

It worked, temporarily, but then the image resumed.

 _"Jacob, what are you doing?" Maria demanded._

 _Footsteps stomped up the stairs._

 _"Jake! Jacob, leave him alone. He didn't do anything."_

 _The door was thrown open, and more out of habit than anything, Leo dropped the stuffed animal and scooted back until his side connected with the wall._

 _Jacob sneered. "You're a little burden, you know that?"_

 _Leo looked at him in apprehension. "I-I'm sorry."_

 _"Don't be sorry," Maria said, shoving past Jacob. "You did nothing wrong."_

 _"Yes, he did! He was **born**!" Jacob screamed before chugging his beer bottle and storming down the stairs._

 _Maria glanced at Leo in sympathy before following her husband._

 _A second later, there was a crash, a scream, and silence._

 _After several moments of nothing but silence, Leo slipped off of the bed, grabbing his stuffed lion, and creeping down the stairs._

 _Upon entering the living room, he froze and stared in absolute horror._

The seven weren't far behind him.

 _Maria was lying on the ground, unconscious, with a cut on her temple and blood dripping out of a stab wound in her stomach._

 _Jacob stood over her with the knife._

 _"M-Maria," Leo whispered before turning to Jacob. "Why?"_

 _He smirked, a crazy look in his eye. "Because I can, kid."_

 _The knife clattered to the floor, and he picked Leo up around the waist. Leo kicked and hollered and hit, but Jacob was much stronger. The stuffed lion fell to the floor._

"Why didn't he just use his fire?" Piper murmured, afraid and horrified.

Words scrawled across the screen.

 **Leo was afraid to use his fire after his mother died.**

Annabeth made a mark beside the letter A in question 10.

 _Leo screamed as he was carried outside, thrashing the whole way._

 _Jacob tossed him in the pool._

The seven gasped in horror as they remembered Martin's warning: Leo can't swim.

 _Leo flailed his arms, crying for help, but he was panicking, and instinct did not tell him to calm down and kick his legs._

 _Leo Valdez was drowning._

 _Jake was gone._

 _Leo was dying alone._

 _After several moments, Leo stopped kicking, stopped thrashing, and slowly, he began to sink. He was slipping into unconsciousness._

 _Suddenly, running footsteps sounded, and hands were yanking Leo out of the pool._

 _"Shit," an unfamiliar cursed before two fingers sought out Leo's neck. "I've got a pulse. Call a bus!"_

A police officer, the seven realized.

 _"Hey, kid."_

 _The image changed position, flipping around to show them a tall, red haired officer with gray eyes._

 _"You're going to be all right."_

 _"Where is he?" A voice shouted._

 _Martin._

More words were written across the screen:

 **Martin grew very close with Leo, especially after Teresa, so when someone called Martin to tell him Leo was in trouble, he didn't hesitate to go to the Abbotts'.**

 _"Oh, Leo."_

 _Martin's face appeared in the image._

 _"I'm sorry."_

 _"Maria," Leo mumbled._

 _Martin sighed. "She's gone, Leo."_

 _"Jake?"_

 _"They're looking for him."_

The image started to get black.

" _Leo? Leo, come on, stay awake. NO! Leo!"_

 _The image went black before flickering back on to reveal Martin standing in the entrance to the living room. A body bag lay in the corner, and dried blood stained the floor._

 _He picked up Leo's stuffed lion, tears in his eyes, and the image shut off._

Seven words etched themselves across the blank screen:

 **Leo was only there for one month.**

Annabeth made another tally beside question 3 before circling B in question 17.

Another sentence appeared:

 **Leo's third foster home is next; hold onto your stomachs.**

"I have a bad feeling about this," Percy muttered.

But it was too late to back out.

The image flickered to life.

* * *

 _What'd you think? And Hera's not wrong. Hold onto your stomachs next chapter; I'll be a good chapter, but it will be sad and horrifying at times (but I'll do my best to warn you). Those of you that have read my other story Day of the Dead will remember the foster home._

 _Also, I know not all foster parents are abusive. That's why I put the explanation of godly interference. Just wanted to point that out._


	5. Sir and His Slaves

_I know, I know, I've been MIA for two months, but I hope this 6, 016 word chapter makes up for it._

 _I won't tell you my life story, but: I have been working on a lot of prompts that have kept me busy, and after I updated another one of my stories The Fiery Hero, I got to this one and got pounded by writers block. I've also been sick, so sick I had to switch from public to online school and go to a doctor. That's why it took me so long._

 _If you have read one of my other stories Day of the Dead, you'll recognize this. Some of this chapter is even taken directly from Day of the Dead._

 ** _Disclaimer: I am a good writer, but I can only hope to be as good as Rick Riordan._**

 ** _WARNINGS: CHILD ABUSE, MURDER, SEXUAL ABUSE! MAJOR WANRING HERE- WILL HAVE WARNINGS BEFORE THE SCENES BEGIN_**

* * *

 _The screen flickered to life, revealing a red house in the center of long rolling fields. The house was immaculate; the painting was perfectly even and the windows were polished. Even the brown and black cat standing on the porch railing seemed to fit the image of a perfect house out in the country._

The seven were tempted to be reminded of Teresa's home, but the people outside did not look like perfectly groomed dolls. In fact, they looked normal.

 _The man was tall and buff with short black hair and brown eyes. He wore dusty overalls and a long sleeved red shirt. His face was tan and sweaty and covered in grime._

 _His wife was petite and had freckles splashed across her forehead and cheeks. She looked young, and her hair was long and black, undulating down her back. She wore a red sun dress and a hat to keep the bright sun out of her eyes._

 _Martin and Leo were standing in front of them, and Leo's eyes (far too dull and cracked to belong to Leo Valdez) darted around at the house and the yard and the fields. He kept his eyes fixed on the ground, refusing to meet the eye of his new foster parents._

 _"We'll take good care of him, Mr. Blake," the woman assured him._

 _"Thank you, Ms. Larrabee," Martin smiled. "I'll see you in two weeks, Leo. Make sure you keep on top of his medical things."_

 _Ms. Larrabee nodded. "Of course. This is not our first rodeo."_

 _Martin laughed. "Of course. After his past foster homes, I just worry about him."_

 _"I understand that," Mr. Larrabee said. "We'll take care of him. By your next visit, he'll be an entirely new kid."_

 _Martin smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. Until then, good luck."_

 _Martin departed and headed for the tall gate at the edge of the property._

 _"Come on in," Mr. Larrabee instructed, and the adults led Leo into the house._

 _The minute the door shut, Mr. Larrabee barked, "Alexis!"_

 _A girl with knotted brown hair rushed into the room; she wore a ripped magenta shirt and torn jeans; her eyes were green, and freckles dotted the skin beside her nose._

 _"Take him to meet the others," Mr. Larrabee commanded. "NOW!"_

 _Leo rushed to follow Alexis, who grabbed his hand and led him outside._

 _"I'm Alexis," she smiled. "You?"_

 _"Leo," he responded._

 _"Don't worry. Sir is a mean one, but the older ones protect the younger ones. How old are you? Eight? Nine?"_

 _"Nine," Leo mumbled._

 _"Don't talk much, do you?" Alexis said. "That's okay. There are a few others like that."_

 _Alexis opened the doors to the cellar and led Leo down the stairs, closing the doors behind them._

 _The basement was a wreck. Rusty chains dangled from the walls on either side of the room; dirty clothes and old bandages piled up in the corners. Personal belongings were scattered across the floor, and photographs filled the wall space._

 _Kids lounged all over the room. Leo counted heads: nine other kids, ten including himself._

 _"Newbie!" Alexis called._

 _One kid stood up and strolled over. He was African American and at least two feet taller than Leo; he was muscular, but he was also pale and shaky. Lack of food must've been making him weak; Sir didn't seem like the type to care about feeding the kids. He wore a ripped gray shirt he'd probably been wearing for months, and his jeans were threadbare._

 _"I'm Christopher," he greeted. "Seventeen."_

A name tag popped up above his head, which was nice since the seven didn't think they could remember who all of these people were.

 _A red haired girl in a tattered green dress walked over._

 _"I'm Sarah; I turn sixteen in less than two months," she stated, proudly._

 _The next girl to approach them was a brown haired teen with dark eyes._

 _"I'm Katie, been thirteen for two weeks," she informed him._

 _A boy with black hair and blue eyes walked over._

 _"Max, eleven," he stated, simply and quietly._

 _"He doesn't talk much," Christopher whispered. "He's had a rough life."_

 _Leo nodded, obviously able to relate._

 _"Janey, nine," a black haired girl greeted._

 _"Brandon!" A brown haired boy-who looked a lot like Alexis, actually- called from where he was leaning against the wall. "Nine."_

 _The next was a small boy with blonde hair and puppy dog brown eyes._

 _"Luke, eight," he chirped._

 _"And I'm Skylar," a small girl with long, tangle brown hair said. "Six!"_

 _"Welcome to Hell on earth," Katie smiled, bitterly._

 _"Don't scare him, Katie," Christopher hissed._

 _"She's not wrong, this place is a real life horror story," Max grumbled._

 _Sarah shrugged. "Can't argue, but he didn't look like he came from a perfect home," she pointed out, gesturing to his appearance. "Judging by the eyes, you've been through a lot."_

 _Leo nodded._

 _"Hey, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger!" Janey cried, sarcastically._

 _"Whoever said that obviously never went to Hell and back, only to land in it again. Three times!" Leo laughed._

 _Everyone chuckled._

 _"Sing it, brother!" Christopher cried_.

The image changed.

 _"You should've had your chores done hours ago!" Mr. Larrabee snapped, punching the wall inches from Leo's head._

The seven jumped.

" _Sir, I-"_

 _"Lazy , pathetic loser!" The man sneered before catching Leo across the face with his knuckles._

"That monster!" Annabeth growled. "I hope Leo still remembers that address."

"If the guys handle Teresa, we'll handle Larrabee," Piper snarled.

Hazel nodded. "We're going to give that jerk a dose of his own medicine."

Frank, Jason, and Percy leaned away from their girlfriends.

"If they look like this when we go to fight the giants, we won't need to do much," Percy whispered. "The giants will run for their mommies the minute they see their expressions."

Jason nodded. "I'm not ashamed to admit it: girls are scary."

"Agreed," Frank murmured.

The image resumed.

 _Leo fell to the ground, catching himself with his arms, and he gazed up at the man in fear._

 _"I haven't told you what the punishment here is yet, have I?" Mr. Larrabee smiled in a nasty manner._

 _Leo was frozen with a deer caught in a headlights expression._

 _"Answer me!" Mr. Larrabee snapped._

 _"No, sir," Leo rushed to say, leaping about a foot in the air at the sudden shout._

 _"Get up," Mr. Larrabee growled, yanking Leo up by the collar of his shirt._

 _Mr. Larrabee dragged Leo through the house, laughing as the boy stumbled to keep up with him._

 _Mr. Larrabee tossed open the door to the cupboard under the stairs and tossed Leo inside._

 _"And stay in there!" Mr. Larrabee yelled, twisting the key in the lock before pocketing it._

 _The image flashed to the inside of the closet, where Leo was curled into a ball, sobbing_.

The screen flashed to reveal a workshop in flames before switching back. The sudden change caused the remaining six to jump.

The screen flashed again, revealing the attic from Teresa's, before going back to the closet.

"Oh my gosh," Annabeth mumbled.

"What?" Frank demanded.

"Leo was trapped in the workshop, the attic... what if he's claustrophobic?"

The six chewed on that for several moments before Jason paled.

"Oh my gods, you're right," he whispered. "Remember when the Stoll brothers locked Leo in that closet, and he didn't talk to them for two months? Travis asked us to talk to him; I thought he was just being dramatic, but what if he's... what if the closet triggered a flashback?"

"It would explain why Leo was so upset with Travis and Connor," Piper agreed.

"Poor Leo," Hazel mumbled.

The screen resumed.

Yellow letters flashed across the screen:

Six days later.

Black words appeared below the yellow:

Leo has not been given food, only water. He has not been let out of the closet once.

 _Leo was curled into the farthest corner of the closet, and the door opened; light fell across his floor, shining on the pale boy._

 _Mr. Larrabee smirked. "Pathetic."_

 _He tossed Leo a red T-shirt and jeans._

 _"I got those from your bag, freak. Change out of those disgusting clothes and get out here."_

 _The door shut, but there was no click of the lock this time._

 _The image changed to that of the cellar, and Leo leaned against the wall as he descended the stairs, his body obviously weak from starvation._

 _"Leo, where have you been?" Christopher exclaimed, running over to help Leo walk. "We were beginning to think you'd either escaped or he killed you."_

 _"Mostly the second one since there weren't any cops," Luke added._

 _"Closet," Leo muttered._

 _"Closet? For six days? What did you do?" Brandon asked._

 _"I didn't get my chores done on time," Leo answered._

 _"You got the closet for six days for that?" Alexis said in disbelief. "The longest time someone's been in the closet was Max for four days because he spit at Sir. This can only mean one thing."_

 _"What?" Leo asked._

 _"Sir has it out for you," Alexis sighed._

 _"That's comforting," Leo said, sarcastically._

 _"Here, Leo, sit down," Sarah advised, leading him over to lean against the wall. "Did you get food at all?"_

 _"No, just water," Leo murmured, practically falling asleep sitting up._

 _Sarah sighed. "Get some rest. I doubt you got a decent moment of sleep in the closet."_

 _Leo nodded before laying down and drifting off to sleep_.

Jason, Piper, and Annabeth were reminded of when Leo was in the Infirmary before they'd departed on the Argo II. Someone from the Hephaestus cabin was always at Leo's side, usually more than one of them. No matter how much work or training had to be done, one or more of Leo's half siblings was always at his side.

This was like that. At least one of the others was sitting beside Leo at all times as the image sped up, acting on fast forward. This was obviously showing a passage of time.

One of the foster kids never left Leo's side. The others came and went; Alexis and Brandon sat beside Leo more often than not, but one girl didn't leave Leo's side for a second. The name tag that hovered above her head identified her as Janey.

 _"So what's the story, kid?" Janey asked._

 _Leo frowned. "Aren't you the same age as me?"_

 _Janey frowned. "Well, yeah, but... I'm taller!"_

 _Leo laughed. "Dude, Luke is almost taller than me, and he's two years younger!"_

 _Janey shrugged. "Good point. Anyway, you don't have to tell me, but where were you before here?"_

 _Leo smirked. "I'll tell you my story if you tell me yours."_

 _Janey smiled. "Deal, but I asked you first."_

 _Leo sighed. "Fine. My dad got my mom pregnant, and then, he didn't even stick around to see me born. My mom died in a machine shop fire a little under two years ago. My aunt blamed me for the fire, so I went to social services. My first foster mom was abusive. She locked me in an attic for about six months. My second foster mom was good, but the husband was an alcoholic, and he, uh... he killed her, and he tried to kill me. Then, I got sent here."_

 _Janey pursed her lips. "Wow, three awful foster homes in a row. Fate or destiny or whatever... has it out for you."_

 _Leo chuckled, but it sounded so fake. "Got that right. Your turn."_

 _Janey sighed; she seemed to be thinking hard._

 _"Okay, my dad was a dead beat, too, and my mom died of stomach cancer three years ago. I had no living relatives, so I came here. This is my first foster home."_

 _"And you've been here for three years?"_

 _"Yep, social services doesn't think anything's wrong here because one, Sir is good at hiding all of the abuse. You'll see when your social worker comes. Two, none of us are stupid enough or daring enough to rat him out. One kid tried that; the cops didn't believe him. We never saw him again," Janey explained._

 _Leo sighed. "I may be stuck here until I'm eighteen, and there's nothing I can do about it."_

 _"Exactly," Janey stated, glumly._

 _The cellar doors burst open, and Mrs. Larrabee called down:_

 _"It's time for chores, brats. All of you, up here now, and I mean all of you. I will do a head count."_

 _Leo rushed to stand and nearly collapsed, but Janey caught him._

 _"Leo, maybe we could explain to Ma'am-"_

 _"You really think she's going to care?" Leo asked. "I could be a little weak or I could be dying, and she'd still tell me to get my butt up there. Come on; we don't want to get in trouble. I'm not going back in that closet again."_

 _Janey sighed, but she helped Leo climb the stairs_.

The image changed.

 _Leo and Janey were feeding the chickens._

 _"Leo?" Janey murmured._

 _"Yeah, Janey?"_

 _"Do you ever think about just being free from social services?"_

 _Leo shrugged. "Of course I do."_

 _"Is there any hope that you'll find a good family?" Janey asked._

 _Leo sighed. "If I get out of here, I'm sure I'll find a good family, but I'll still run. Running keeps me one step ahead."_

 _"Of what?"_

 _"The past," Leo replied, but he didn't elaborate._

The image changed again.

 _"Sky, are you okay?" Leo yelled, kneeling over a hole in the ground._

"Oh, no," Annabeth muttered. "Sky's the youngest. She must've fallen in."

The other five demigods paled.

"Leo! Leo, I'm scared!" The small girl bawled.

 _Her voice was far away. Who knew how deep that hole went?_

 _"It's okay, Sky! Janey will be back with the rope soon!"_

 _"Leo, it's dark!" She sobbed._

 _"I know, Sky."_

 _Leo looked up and glanced around at his surroundings, but Janey was no where in sight._

 _"Hey, Sky!" He shouted. "How about I tell you a story?"_

 _Skylar sniffled from deep within the earth._

 _"Okay!" She called up, her voice wobbling in._

 _"Um, once there was a princess named Sky. She could fly, and she was a fantastic person and leader. She loved to help others, and she was the reason her people didn't tear each other apart. She kept the peace, and she helped everyone in any way she could._

 _"One day, a bad woman came, and she had magic, very similar to Sky, but this woman used her powers for evil. Sky had to defeat her before this woman destroyed her kingdom!_

 _"Sky gathered six of her best friends. They all had magic. One could control water; one could hypnotize people; one could turn into any animal he wanted; one could control and attract metal, kind of like a magnet; one was super smart, like ridiculously clever and intelligent; one could control fire._ "

"Is anybody else noticing that Leo predicted the future?" Percy whispered.

"Maybe Leo's a distant descendent of Apollo or something," Piper suggested.

"Doesn't that possibly make him related to Octavian?" Frank asked. "If Apollo was in his Roman form?"

Silence fell.

"Let's not mention this to Leo," Jason settled on.

Nods of agreement occurred from every person in the room.

 _"These people banded together to defeat this bad woman, who did everything should could tell stop them! She sent monsters after them!"_

 _"Monsters?" Sky said, curiously, sounding much calmer than before._

 _"Yep, big, bad ones. Dragons, two headed dogs, ginormous bats, sea serpents! Basically, if you can think of a monster, she sent it._

 _"But they defeated them all! In fact, Princess Sky defeated the most! Then, a big battle occurred- Sky, her friends, and her kingdom against this bad woman!"_

 _"Who won?" Sky called._

 _"We're here!" Janey panted, pulling to a stop beside Leo and handing a rope to Christopher._

 _"I'm tell you later, Sky! Right now, we're coming to get you!" Leo yelled as Christopher tossed the rope into the hole._

 _"It doesn't reach!" Sky sobbed after a minute._

 _"What do we do now?" Christopher asked, his voice squeaking._

 _"Christopher, you are the oldest! You cannot afford to PANIC!" Janey shouted._

 _"You're panicking!" Christopher pointed out._

 _"But I'm only ten. You're seventeen!"_

 _"Both of you, shut up," Leo hissed. "You're scaring Sky."_

 _Both of the kids fell silent as Leo turned back to the hole in the earth._

 _"Sky, how short is the rope? A foot? A couple of feet?" He called._

 _"About three feet too short!" Skylar responded._

 _"That's good," Leo muttered before pulling up the rope and tying the end around his waist._

 _"Leo, what are you doing?" Janey demanded._

 _"We can't leave her down there! Other than Sky, I'm the only one small enough to fit in the hole. Even Luke's shoulders are too broad. Christopher, you're going to lower me in head first. I'll grab Sky, and then, you'll pull us up."_

 _"That's dangerous!" Christopher said. "If the rope breaks, you'll fall on top of Sky, and then, you'll be hurt, and you could..." He trailed off._

 _Leo sighed. "Try not to think about it like that."_

 _Christopher nodded and watched as Leo lowered himself to his knees. Christopher snatched up the other end of the rope and held as tightly as he could._

 _Leo took a deep breath before sticking his head into the hole and slipping inside while Christopher gripped the rope._

 _Leo was lowered into the hole until they could no longer see him._

 _After what seemed like an eternity, Leo's voice carried out of the hole:_

 _"I've got her! Pull us up!"_

 _Christopher tugged on the rope, and Janey helped him heave the boy and girl out of the earth._

 _Both were covered in dirt and dust, and they had a few cuts, but other than that, they were unharmed._

 _"Let's head back," Leo suggested as he untied the rope from his waist. "The others will be getting worried."_

 _Christopher and Janey nodded, so Leo lifted an emotionally and physically exhausted Sky into his arms, and they started walking back to the cellar._

 _"Leo?" Sky mumbled, her head resting on Leo's shoulder._

 _"Yeah, Sky?" Leo asked._

 _"How did the story end?"_

 _Leo smiled. "Sky and her friends won. The bad woman was defeated, and she never bothered them again. Peace and serenity returned to the kingdom, and Sky was more appreciated and admired than ever."_

 _"And they all lived happily ever after," Sky muttered before she began to snore, softly._

 _"Yeah, Sky," Leo whispered to her sleeping form. "I promise, Sky. You're going to get a happily ever after. I'll make sure of it."_

The screen went black.

"If that rope broke..." Annabeth trailed off in horror.

"Leo and Sky would've died," Percy finished.

The others nodded.

"Well, Leo's a natural born hero," Jason sighed. "We already knew that. We've always known that. The question is... what happened after? Did Leo run away? Did social services take them out?"

As if Hera had heard Jason, the screen flickered to life and letters were typed across the page.

Janey and Leo were best friends, and Alexis and Brandon were Leo's second and third favorite siblings.

Percy frowned. "Why is that important?"

As an answer, the screen flashed black before another memory began playing.

The screen began as black.

 ** _(SCENE INCLUDES A NONGRAPHIC MURDER! MURDER PART IS UNDERLINED. SKIP IF YOU WISH)_**

 _"Leo," a voice hissed. "Leo, wake up."_

The screen was still dark, but they could make out the hazy image of Alexis. The screen wasn't pitch black, and they could tell that the foster siblings were in the cellar, but the lights were off.

 _"How did you..." Leo whispered._

"He must be asking how she got out of her chains," Frank said, but his voice was hard. "They were chained up like animals."

 _"There's no time," she hissed. "Look, Brandon and I are going to get help. We need you and Janey to stay here and take care of the little ones and try to distract the Bastard. With luck, we'll be back before he even notices we're gone. With the police."_

 _"But what if he catches you?" Janey asked, Brandon having woke her up._

 _Alexis shook her head with a smile on her grimy face. "Brandon and I have been planning this for months. It's fool proof. We'll see you guys soon, okay? If anyone asks, you didn't see anything."_

 _And Alexis and Brandon were gone, out the cellar doors, which they'd picked with a bobby pin_.

"Why do I have the feeling something's going to go horribly wrong?" Piper muttered.

 _Not even ten minutes later, the cellar doors banged open, and Mr. Larrabee stomped down the stairs, awakening everyone in the room._

 _Unchaining Leo and Janey, he yanked them up by the hair and dragged them out of the basement._

 _"Sir, they haven't done anything wrong!" Christopher shouted, but Mr. Larrabee ignored him._

 _Leo and Janey were yanked into the house and thrown to the kitchen floor; Mr. Larrabee stomped on Leo's back, causing him to hiss in pain_.

Jason growled an almost animalistic snarl. The Romans and Percy all had the wolf snarls they'd learned from Lupa set deep into their features.

 _Leo looked up, and the image repositioned to show Alexis and Brandon standing on the other side of the room._

 _Leo was dragged up by his curls while Janey remained on the floor._

 _"These little bastards tried to escape," Mr. Larrabee hissed, shaking Leo and ripping out some of his hair. "And I know that you two had something to do with it."_

 _Leo took a deep breath and lied right through his teeth. "We didn't know anything, Sir."_

 _SLAP! Leo's face swung to the side._

 _"Don't lie to me, brat! And honestly, I think that not stopping the perpetrators is more evil than committing the crime. "_

 _A fist connected with Leo's ribs._

 _"STOP!" Alexis pleaded. "He didn't do anything."_

 _"That's why I'm punishing him."_

 _He tossed Leo to the floor and started beating Janey, too, and Leo clawed, punched, and even bit him, trying to get him to stop, but Mr. Larrabee tossed Leo aside, almost like a person swatting a fly from the air._

 _Janey slipped into unconscious pretty soon. Mr. Larrabee had been aiming for her face, and he must've smacked her too many times in the head._

 _Mr. Larrabee kicked Leo, but he stopped there. Then, he stormed over to Alexis and dragged her to a kitchen chair, where he forced her to sit down._

 _"You are my property!" He sneered. "And trying to run away was a bad thing to do. You and that boy are a disease, and diseases must be stopped before they spread."_

 _Sir grabbed a knife out of the knife block and stabbed Alexis_.

Hazel sobbed, and Frank tried to comfort her, but he was dealing with his own tears.

Annabeth had her hands covering her eyes, and she laid her head on Percy's shoulder while Percy buried his face in her hair.

Jason had turned Piper away from the screen at the sight of the knife, and the couple embraced.

None of them looked at the screen, but they could still hear the screams and cries of the three conscious children.

Finally, the screams stopped, but none of the demigods would turn around. They all had the feeling that it wasn't over.

Brandon's screams soon started, but his stopped much sooner than his sister's.

The six slowly turned toward the screen, and they stared at the unmoving bodies and the bloody floor.

 _Mr Larrabee turned towards Leo, who hugged Janey to his chest in order to protect her from the knife that had killed two of his best friends._

The six gulped, and they clung to each other even more.

" _Take the girl back to the cellar. Come right back here, or I'll kill her too."_

 _Leo nodded and dragged Janey to the basement, where he set her down gently beside her chains. The others were awake by now, staring at him as he sat Janey down._

 _"Leo, what happened?" Max asked in concern._

 _Leo didn't respond. Trembling like mad, he climbed the stairs and shut the door behind him._

 _Mr. Larrabee hadn't moved since Leo left. He was simply gazing at the dead kids without a hint of remorse in his eyes._

 _"Get the trash bags out of the cupboard."_

 _Leo did._

 _"Now grab two and put one of the kids in each."_

 _Leo, choking back sobs, did as he was told. By the end, his hands were soaked in blood._

 _"Put them by the door."_

 _Sobbing, Leo dragged the bodies to the front door._

 _"Now, I want you to bleach this floor. Clean up every last drop of blood and come get me when you're done._ "

The image fast forwarded until the floor was spotless, but the sun had not begun to peak over the hills yet.

 _ **(SCENE INCLUDES NONGRAPHIC SEXUAL ABUSE. THIS PART OF THE SCENE IS BOLDED)**_

 _"S-Sir," Leo called, knocking on the bathroom door._

 _"Come in."_

 _Leo stepped inside and kept his eyes trained on the floor when he saw that Mr. Larrabee was taking a bath._

 _"I-I finished."_

 _"Good. Come here."_

 _Leo crossed the floor and stood beside the tub._

 ** _Sir guided him onto his knees and had Leo wash the blood off his skin._**

Trash cans appeared in their laps, and Hazel, Jason, Percy, and Piper vomited into them. The rest barely held onto their stomachs.

 _"Thank you, Leo."_

 ** _He grabbed Leo's hand and guided it lower._**

 _Leo jolted back, but the... the monster trapped his hand._

 _"Shh, Leo, you don't want Janey to end up like Alexis and Bradon, do you?"_

 _Leo stopped struggling._

 _"That's what I thought."_

 _Leo looked to the ceiling and whispered, "Please."_

No help came, and the screen went black.

 _When the screen flickered to life, it showed Leo standing beside a six foot deep hole, holding a shovel and standing beside two trash bags._

 _Mr. Larrabee forced Leo to throw in the trash bags that held the bodies of Alexis and Brandon._

 _Leo bleached the floors, getting rid of any blood that may have seeped through the bags. He threw his and Mr. Larrabee's clothes into the hole with the bags before filling it with dirt once more_.

 _Sir smiled at him. "Alright, Leo, no chores for you or the others today. And as long as you're a good boy for me, you and the others can receive more food and less beatings. If you're a bad boy, well, I'm afraid I'll have to punish Janey for your crimes. Keep that in mind."_

 _Sir took him to the cellar and locked the door behind him._

 _"Leo!" Christopher gasped, running to meet him. Their chains had been unlocked._

 _"What happened?" Sarah asked._

 _"Where are Alexis and Bradon?" Janey asked._

 _"Gone," Leo whispered._

 _"You mean they escaped?" Luke said in wonder._

 _Leo shook his head. "Gone," he repeated before going over to his area and curling up on his side, facing the wall._

 _Sarah understood, and the others soon followed. Crying could be heard all through the night._

"What did Leo do to anyone?" Piper mumbled.

"He didn't do anything," Percy mumbled, "and that's why this is so hard."

"How are we going to talk to Leo about this?" Hazel asked. "I mean, we can't just bring it up out of no where."

"I don't know how we're going to do it yet," Jason muttered, "but we have to. We're not pushing Leo off anymore. He's always been there for us. The least we can do is be there for him, whether he wants us there or not."

Sounds of agreement filled the room.

 _Mr. Larrabee pushed Leo onto the bed and climbed on top of him._

Jason growled and the scent of ozone filled the air.

The image repositioned itself. Mr. Larrabee and Leo were no longer within view of the image, but the door was.

 _It slowly creaked open, and Janey peaked inside._

 _And then, Janey was screeching like a banshee, leaping onto Mr. Larrabee's back and calling him every name in the book._

"Go, Janey!" Hazel cheered.

"Get the jerk!" Percy agreed.

 _Janey put up a good fight for a solid three minutes before Mr. Larrabee suddenly whirled her around and shoved her into the wall. She wasn't hurt, but she was dazed._

 _Janey was dragged into the kitchen and forced to sit in the same chair as Alexis and Brandon. He raised the knife._

"NO!" The six shouted.

 _"Sir, stop!" Leo cried, grabbing his arm. "Please, I'll do anything you want! Just don't hurt Janey. Please..."_

 _Mr. Larrabee laughed. The man placed the knife against Leo's chin, making him gasp in fear._

"Don't you dare hurt him," Piper snarled, pouring every ounce of Charmspeak into her voice. "If you hurt him, I'll hunt you down and strangle you with your own intestines. Then, I'll-"

"You think she realizes he can't hear her?" Jason whispered to Percy.

"You want to tell her that?" Percy asked.

Jason shook his head. "No, thank you."

Piper's rant lasted at least five minutes before she finally sighed and sat down, the fire having gone out of her.

The image resumed.

 _Mr. Larrabee didn't stab him or even cut Leo; he just dragged the knife across Leo's skin, barely grazing it._

 _The knife was placed on the counter, and Mr. Larrabee reached for the zipper of his pants._

The screen went black before flickering back to life.

 _The screen displayed Janey and Leo in the kitchen; Mr. Larrabee was gone, and Janey was rocking Leo, singing a lullaby._

 _"Thank you," Leo whispered._

 _"For what?"_

 _"For staying."_

 _Janey smiled, sadly. "Leo, you know what we need to do."_

 _Leo met her eyes. "But... how? He killed Alexis and Brandon."_

 _"There was one fault in their plan. And if we don't make the same mistake, we'll get out of here. They got caught climbing the fence after turning off the electricity," Janey told him. "But..."_

 _She reached into her pocket and withdrew a ring of keys._

 _Leo grinned. "Let's do this."_

The screen flashed to display a gate, which Janey was unlocking with a bronze key.

 _Janey and Leo didn't stop running until they reached town, and luckily for them, the police station was right outside the dense forest._

 _"HELP!" Janey shouted as she ran inside. "We need help!"_

 _"Woah, kids," one man said as every police officer in the room turned their head. "What's wrong?"_

 _Janey started speaking so fast that no one could understand a word she said._

 _"All right, you two, come with me. I'll listen to you, but you have to slow down," the man told them as he lead them into an interrogation room. "I'm Officer Burnten, but you can call me Ethan. What happened?"_

 _Janey told them entire story- about the abuse, the murder, what Sir did to Leo._

 _The officer couldn't have looked more stunned if Janey's head had turned around on her neck._

 _"Kids, that's quite an outlandish story-"_

 _"We can prove it!" Leo told him. "We can take you to the Place and show you. I know where they're buried, and... and the other kids are still there."_

 _Ethan picked up his coat and said, "Well, come on."_

 _"Hey, Stewart," he called as he stepped out. "I have reason to believe that six kids are in immediate danger; am I allowed to enter without a warrant?"_

 _"If there's evidence that suggests immediate danger, yes," Stewart answered from behind a desk._

 _Ethan nodded. "I think these two are enough."_

 _Leo and Janey lead Ethan to the Place, and when they arrived at the gate, Leo handed Ethan the key and watched him unlock it._

 _Ethan walked in, followed by the two kids, who hid behind Ethan the whole way to the cellar door._

 _Janey unlocked it and opened the doors._

 _"Guys!" She called down. "Come up here!"_

 _Six kids hesitantly climbed the stairs and stared at the officer._

 _"Mister!" Skylar piped up. "Are you gonna take us away?"_

 _Ethan nodded. "I am. But first, I gotta arrest them. Stay here, okay?"_

The image sped up, slightly, and it passed in blurs of soundless color. Leo had obviously been in a state of shock, resulting in the fuzzy memory.

 _Ethan arrested the abusers, who cussed at Janey and Leo all the way to the police cruiser. Back up arrived, and the eight kids had to be taken in three cars; the last thing Leo saw as they drove away were people in blue coats starting to dig where Alexis and Brandon were buried._

The screen went white, and black letters spelled several statements across the screen.

The kids were allowed to attend a close casket funeral for their friends before they were buried beside their parents; they both died of drug overdoses shortly after their kids were put into the system.

Then, it was time to say goodbye.

Kids were sent all over the country. Christopher went to Arizona; Sarah, to Texas; Lily, to Arkansas; Max, to Florida; Luke, to Massachusetts; and Skylar to Oregon.

Janey was getting sent to Pennsylvania, and Leo, to Ohio.

The screen went black.

Percy sighed. "After all that, they got seperated."

"The world is a cruel place," Hazel murmured.

"Tell me about it," Annabeth snorted.

"Poor Leo," Piper murmured.

Jason nodded, staring at Leo's unconscious form.

"I'm so sorry," Jason whispered.

The other five demigods didn't have to ask. They knew what he meant because they were thinking the same thing.

* * *

 _For those of you that have read Day of the Dead, I did change Bradon's name to Brandon. I kept typing Brandon instead of Bradon, so I just changed the name._

 _Also, don't worry. Leo will have good homes. In fact, (spoiler) next chapter will be a good home._

 _Now the question is.. why did Leo run away from it? Until the chapter's up, I'll leave you guys to your guessing._

 _See you next chapter, which will hopefully be sooner._


	6. The Gerans and The Future Hero

_Chapter 6! This is probably one of my favorite chapter because I love the family and the ending. I did cry, though. I'm still struggling not to sob as I edit this._

 _Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews last chapter._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing._**

 ** _WARNINGS: NOTHING EXCEPT FOR AN EXTREMELY SAD ENDING THAT WILL TUG AT YOUR HEART STRINGS!_**

* * *

The screen came to life and displayed a brick house with an overgrown lawn.

 _Leo clung to Martin as he rang the doorbell._

 _"Leo, it's okay. I have a good feeling about this," Martin reassured him, staring down at Leo in pity._

 _The door opened, and a tall, burly man with a broad smile answered the door. He was wearing a gray muscle shirt and dark blue jeans; his brown hair was buzzed down to the scalp, and his blue eyes twinkled with happiness._

 _"I'm Steven Geran. Please, call me Steve," he said. "You must be Leo."_

 _Leo nodded, hesitantly._

 _Steve held out his hand, making sure to do it slowly in order to avoid startling the abused child._

 _Leo reached out his own and shook the man's._

 _"Come on in," Steve said, stepping aside and gesturing them through the door._

 _Martin and Leo stepped inside, and Martin knelt in front of Leo._

 _"Leo, I think this is the one," Martin said. "These people are genuinely good people; they're not liars. I promise you. I'll be back in two weeks, and you can tell me how you're holding up, okay?"_

 _Leo nodded. "Thank you, Martin."_

 _Martin nodded. "Take good care of him, Mr. Geran."_

 _Steve nodded. "We will."_

 _Martin left with one last glance at Leo, and the door shut behind him._

 _Leo's hands trembled as he stared at the floor._

 _"Come on. I need to introduce you to my family," Steve smiled._

 _Leo looked up in shock. He'd obviously been expecting a loud, angry bellow or maybe even to be struck._

 _"Come along," Steve said, leading Leo into the kitchen._

"I like him," Percy muttered.

 _There were four people there. A red haired woman stood at the sink, doing the dishes; twin girls with crimson hair and blue eyes played Go Fish at the table; a black haired boy was pouring some juice into a cup._

 _"Hello, everyone. This is Leo," Steve announced. "Leo, this is my wife, Caroline."_

 _"Nice to meet you, Leo," the woman called, drying her hand on a towel._

 _"These are our twins, Sara and Kara," Steve said, gesturing to the red haired girls._

 _"I'm Kara," the one on the left said._

 _"No, I'm Kara!" The other disagreed._

"It's the Stoll brothers all over again," Percy groaned.

"I am so glad Travis grew that extra inch, or we'd never be able to tell them apart," Annabeth said.

Piper chuckled. "And they're not twins?"

Percy shook his head. "Nope, Travis is a year older. The fact that they look so much alike is a strange phenomenon."

Annabeth gasped. "Percy just used a big word!"

Percy laughed. "Well, I do have daily vocabulary lessons with you."

 _"Don't worry, they do this all the time," Steve whispered to Leo. "They answer to both names, and even we don't know which is which, so don't sweat it."_

 _Leo nodded. "Do all twins do this?"_

 _Steve barked a laugh, making Leo jump._

 _"I think so," Steve chuckled. "Anyway, this is the other child we're fostering, David."_

 _The black haired boy waved, knocking over his cup of juice._

 _Everyone laughed as David fumbled to right the cup, watching apple juice drip off of the counter._

 _Leo smiled and grabbed a wash cloth to help clean it up._

 _"If you can't tell, I'm the klutz," David chuckled. "By the way, you never saw that."_

 _"Oh, no," Leo said. "I didn't see a thing."_

 _"But we did!" Kara/Sara yelled._

 _"Yeah, and I saw you completely wipe out on your skateboard," David replied without looking up._

 _The girl blushed. "Touché."_

 _BARK!_

 _A thin dog with light brown fur bounded into the kitchen and started licking Leo's face._

 _Leo yelped and fell backwards as the dog tackled him._

 _"And that's our dog, Sandy!" Steve chortled as Leo got over his shock and started laughing._

 _"He likes you!" David yelled. "Lucky. That dog won't even let me pet it."_

 _"Dogs are good judges of character, David," one of the girls mocked._

 _"You take that back!" David shouted._

 _"No!"_

 _"Fine, I challenge you to a game of Legos!"_

 _"NO!" The parents yelled._

 _"What's a game of Legos?" Leo asked as Sandy finally got off of his chest and he was able to stand._

 _"A game of Legos is an intense building contest. Mom and dad are the judges," one of the twins explained. "Sometimes we even bring the neighbors in to judge. Anyway, whoever builds the better fortress with Legos gets three things. One, you get the losers' deserts for an entire week. Two, the losers have to do the winner's chores for two weeks. Three, the losers do the winner's homework in their worst subject for three weeks."_

 _"Worst subject?" Leo asked._

 _"Yeah. If I win, they do my science homework. If Kara wins, we do her history. If David wins, we do his math."_

 _Leo smirked. "I want in on this. Be prepared because you will be doing my English homework."_

 _"Don't get too cocky!" Kara called. "I always win."_

 _"That'll make my victory all that more sweeter," Leo said with a raised eyebrow_.

"Leo is so going to win," Jason stated and everyone else nodded.

 _"Are you two losers going to keep trash talking each other, or are going to build?" David called._

 _The three children ran for the hallway, Leo following behind._

 _Steve and Caroline exchange a glance, like here we go again, before following._

 _The image fast forwarded to display a room with two beds, both with clean white sheets and one with blue blankets. The other had orange blankets._

 _In the center were two Lego fortresses._

 _One would come to the waist of six foot tall person and was almost completely blue. There was a door (which really opened, as one of the twins demonstrated); there were six windows and a little Lego man on top of the wall_.

"I like that one," Percy said, pointing to the blue one.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Of course you would."

Percy elbowed her, playfully. "This is why I like blue food more than you."

 _The other was almost entirely orange with a doorway and a ceiling with a small, rectangular gap between the wall and the rest of the ceiling. The twin that had built it stuck her fingers in the small gap and pulled up, like opening a trap door, to reveal an elaborate inside with furniture and Lego people and much more._

 _The image changed to a room with a single bed with a green comforter._

 _This fortress looked like a simple work building that came to the shoulders of Steve. Near the top, David had somehow arranged the Legos so that two letters were spelled in the empty spaces. DE. David's initials, probably._

 _The image changed to a room with a single bed with a red comforter._

 _This fortress was, to put it lightly, AWESOME!_

 _It was taller than Steve (who was at least 6'2), complete with towers and opening doors. There was a 'mote'; it was a small gap between the fortress and a separate square of Legos. Leo held a Lego helicopter and tossed it into the air, watching the propellers spin. It stayed in the air for a moment before landing gracefully on the ceiling._

 _And it was made entirely out of Legos!_

 _Leo stood over his creation with a smug grin._

 _David exchanged a glance with the twins._

 _"We'd better start on his English homework," David said._

 _The twins nodded_.

"That was awesome," Frank said, simply.

"I knew I was a great builder, but wow," Piper said.

"Well, he did build a helicopter out of pipe cleaners," Jason pointed out.

Piper nodded. "Good point."

 _The image changed to a swimming pool._

 _"Come on, Leo!" Sara called. "We know you can't swim. We'll stay in the shallow end."_

 _Leo, sitting on the edge of the pool in his swim trunks and a shirt, shook his head._

 _The twins turned to David and nodded._

 _David swam over and pulled himself up beside Leo._

 _"Leo," David said, slowly. "We know you were abused."_

 _Leo didn't meet his eyes._

 _"I was, too."_

 _Leo looked up in shock._

 _David sighed. "My mom. My dad started drinking when I was three. Around the time I was five, he walked out the door and didn't come back. My mom went off the deep end after that. She... she came after me with a belt."_

 _David paused before meeting Leo's eyes._

 _"I was six," he stated. "She beat me three times before I told a teacher. She was mad at me for never turning in my homework, and I couldn't take it anymore. I started crying, begging her not to tell my mom. I don't even remember exactly what I said, but I must've said something about the abuse because I was taken out of my home and the next day, I was sent here. I lucked out with this foster home and so did you. Leo, when you are under this roof and when you are not, you will always be family. Nothing will change that. They didn't judge me for my scars when I first got here. They won't judge you for yours."_

 _Leo hesitated before he finally grabbed the edge of his shirt and took it off._

 _Leo was covered in scars and faded bruises. Some cuts were scabbed over, and his back was littered with scars from Teresa. Leo's ribs stood out, prominently_.

Piper sobbed. Hazel vomited into the trash can. Frank had to look away. Annabeth choked back tears. Percy and Jason clenched their fists and did everything they could to stop themselves from tracking down Teresa and Sir right at that moment.

 _David didn't look surprised or disgusted or angry. In fact, he smiled, sadly._

 _"Okay. Let's have some fun," David laughed before he leaned over and whispered something into Leo's ear._

 _The image fast forwarded. The twins were still in the pool, tossing a beach ball back and forth, but Leo and David had disappeared._

 _"Where did they go?" One of the twins (Kara, maybe?) called to the other._

 _The other shrugged. "I don't-"_

 _"Cannonball!"_

 _Leo and David leaped into the pool, splashing the girls with several gallons of water._

 _"You jerks!" Sara yelled._

 _"We are jerks, aren't we?" Leo called._

 _"We're going to get you! Think fast!" Kara cried, chucking the ball at Leo's face._

 _With the reflexes of a ninja, Leo batted the ball aside and accidently hit David._

 _"Dude, not cool_."

The last thing the six heard was the laughter of four happy children before the screen shut off.

"That was sweet," Annabeth smiled.

Piper chuckled. "Yeah."

"Wait a minute."

Everyone turned to Frank.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if Leo wasn't taken out of the foster home, he ran away. Why? He looked so happy."

Silence reigned.

The screen flickered on to give them the answer.

Black letters scrawled across the screen.

Two weeks later...

"H _ey, Leo," Kara called, running up to him._

 _Leo turned. "Yeah?"_

 _"Sara and I have volleyball, and David's sick. You gonna be okay walking home alone?"_

 _Leo laughed. "Kara, I'm ten, not two."_

 _Kara chuckled. "Well, you know, we worry about you. And don't worry, we did it with David, too."_

 _Leo nodded. "I'll be fine, Kara, but I'd better start walking. David's probably very bored right now."_

 _Kara giggled. "Probably? Don't you mean definitely?"_

 _Leo laughed before waving goodbye and starting to walk down the sidewalk and away from his school._

 _"Hello," a voice said, and Leo looked up._

 _It was a teenage girl and a beautiful one. She wore a crimson shirt that showed way too much cleavage and a white skirt that was way too short._

 _"Uh, hi," Leo stammered. "I'd love to chat, but I have to get home_."

He obviously had the same feeling the other six were having: something was wrong.

" _Come on. Stay for a while," the girl grinned._

 _"No, thanks," Leo said, trying to step around the girl._

 _"A handsome boy like you shouldn't be walking home alone," she smiled._

 _"Uh, I'm ten, and you're at least sixteen, so... that isn't going to work," Leo told her before making a break for it._

 _The girl lashed out at the speed of light and yanked Leo backward, tossing him to the ground with unnatural strength._

 _When Leo glanced up, he paled._

 _The girl was no longer a girl. She had one donkey leg and one bronze leg; her hair was flaming, and her teeth were sharp and pointy. Her eyes glinted red in the sunlight_.

"Empousa," Percy whispered.

 _Leo screamed and tried to run, but he didn't make it very far before the empousa dived._

 _Leo closed his eyes and waited for death, but it didn't come._

 _A blonde teenager leaped in front of Leo and stabbed the monster through the neck, turning it to dust._

 _Leo scooted back as the boy turned around, trying to get away from the sword in the boy's hand_.

Annabeth and Percy gasped.

"What is it?" Piper asked in worry

"Luke," Annabeth murmured.

 _The boy was, indeed, a sixteen year Luke Castellon. His face lacked the scar, but his blue eyes and blonde hair and his elfish features marked him as the boy that would grow up to host Kronos and then become a hero of Olympus._

 _"W-What?" Leo stuttered._

 _"Kid, run," Luke snapped. "If you stay in one place for too long, those things and much worse will come for you. Head for New York and don't look back."_

 _Luke turned and ran down the sidewalk, not even glancing over his shoulder_.

"What just happened?" Jason asked.

"Luke was given his quest a few weeks before his seventeenth birthday," Annabeth whispered, her voice hoarse with emotion. "He must've been on his way to California."

Percy put an arm around her to comfort her.

The image resumed.

 _Leo, his face white with fear, scrambled through the window of the Gerans' house._

 _He slung his backpack off of his shoulder and started tossing clothes and personal items and anything that would fit into his backpack._

 _Leo sighed and scribbled down something on a piece of notebook paper before leaving the room._

 _Leo opened the door to David's room, and he smiled at his brother._

 _David certainly looked sick. He was pale and his eyes were glazed over with fever._

 _"Hey, Dave," Leo whispered._

 _David smiled. "Hey, Leo. What's up?"_

 _"The sky?" Leo joked. "David, I love you. You're the best brother I could ever ask for."_

 _David smiled. "Love you, too."_

 _"Get some rest, hermano."_

The translation scrawled across the screen: brother

Leo _walked out of the room and found Caroline and Steve in the kitchen._

 _"Hey, Leo," Steve said, sipping from his water bottle._

 _Leo surprised everyone in that kitchen, including himself, when he hugged the life out of Steve._

 _Steve patted Leo on the back._

 _"Steve, you're like the father I never had," Leo murmured._

 _Steve smiled. "That's good because you and David are like the sons I've never had."_

 _Leo embraced Caroline._

 _"I love both of you," Leo said. "I should've said that sooner."_

 _Caroline grinned. "I love you like my own child, Leo."_

 _"I better go do my English," Leo said, releasing Caroline. "The twins are busy, and David's too sick to do it for me."_

 _"You shouldn't be swapping homework anyway!" Caroline laughed as Leo walked back down the hall._

 _Leo opened the door to his room and picked up his backpack before climbing out the window_.

The screen changed to display the note Leo had written.

I **love you guys. I really do, and I want to stay so badly, but I want to protect you even more. Trouble follows me everywhere I go. I killed my own mother, even if it was an accident. I'm scared I'll screw up and hurt you. I love you enough to let you go. I hope you can understand.**

 **Who knows? Maybe we'll meet again someday. Just not someday soon**.

Not one of the six demigods had dry eyes.

The image changed to display Leo's room, and Caroline was sitting on Leo's bed, the note clenched in her hands.

Not Leo's memory was scribbled across the top of the screen.

 _Caroline sobbed, and her tears dripped onto the note._

 _Steve walked in, and he sat beside her, slinging an arm across her shoulders._

 _"I want to know if he's safe," Caroline choked out. "I want to know if he's eating. I want to know if he's warm."_

 _Steve buried his face in her hair, but he couldn't hide his own tears._

 _Caroline smoothed her thumb over a single sentence on the paper_.

 **Who knows? Maybe we'll meet again someday. Just not someday soon.**

* * *

 _Did anyone else cry?_

 _On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best, how was this chapter?_

 _Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Thanks for reading!_


	7. The Street Family

_I'm back. This was meant to be up earlier, but life got in the way._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

 ** _WARNINGS: NONGRAPHIC MENTIONS OF ABUSE, RAPE, AND ABANDONMENT_**

* * *

The image momentarily went black before flickering back to life.

The screen displayed dark streets and a night sky with tall buildings on either side. The occasional car rushed past, and some creepy people lounged in the alleys.

Across the bottom, **Manhatten, New York** was spelled.

"Leo's been to New York before?" Percy whispered, shocked.

 _"Go to New York, and don't look back," Luke's voice played, although Luke was no where in sight._

"Voice over," Annabeth said. "If Luke told him to go there, that's probably why Leo would start there. After all, he has no where else to go except back to the Gerans, and you saw the note."

The others nodded, but the atmosphere immediately went from curious and confused to depressed as they remembered what the note had said.

 _Leo appeared on the screen, walking down the sidewalk and with his jacket huddled around him as he sped-walked past the alleyways._

 _"How old are you, kid?" A voice asked._

 _Leo turned, and the screen displayed a homeless woman with stringy brown hair and wrinkled skin and swallowed by a dozen coats._

 _"I'm ten," Leo replied, staying as far away from the woman as he could without stepping into the road._

 _The woman laughed. "Don't worry, kid, I'm not coming any closer the you want me to. I just want to tell you something._

 _"You're a little young to be out here by yourself, and you're obviously a runaway. I'm not going to tell you to go back or anything, but if you ever need a place to go, there's a street family._

 _"Street family?" Leo asked. "Like a gang?"_

 _The woman shook her head. "It's not a gang. It's basically a band of runaways that stay together like a family. There are two parents that care for these runaway children like their own. Here."_

 _The woman grabbed a paper out of her pocket and held it out to Leo, who grabbed it._

 _The symbol was simple. A circle with three vertical lines drawn through it and one horizontal line crossing them._

 _"They're called **asfeli** ," the woman told him. "I think it means safety in another language. I don't know for sure, but either way, they're two streets over, and they'll take you in if you need it. Just look for that symbol and you'll find where they stay."_

 _Leo nodded. "Thanks."_

 _"You're welcome. Now, I suggest finding a place to sleep for the night. The streets of New York are not friendly after dark."_

 _Leo nodded before running off down the street._

 _The image changed to display an old, worn down, seemingly abandoned shelter with a porch. Ratty blankets and towels dangled from the top of the porch to shield the inside. The symbol had been drawn on several of the covers._

 _Leo walked up to the shelter and called, "Hello?"_

 _The blanket covering the entrance was swept aside to reveal a man with a goatee and dark brown hair. He was wearing a gray vest, blue jeans littered with holes, and a white table top, and a black hoodie was tied around his waist. He had an ear piercing._

 _"Yeah?" he asked._

 _"Um, my name's Leo Valdez. There was a woman about two streets over that sent me to you," Leo explained, handing the man the paper with the symbol drawn on it._

 _"Aw, Rachel!" He smiled. "She used to be part of the family; she left a few years ago, and now, she sends people to us when they need help. I'm Cole, the father. What are you running from?"_

 _"Foster care. First and third home were abusive; second home, my foster dad killed my foster mother and tried to kill me; and the forth one... long story," Leo recapped._

 _Cole nodded. "We're all running from something here. I ran from my dad pounding me every chance he got. The mother of the family ran from her mother forcing her into prostitution. Kids ran from abuse, neglect, rape, and everything in between. If you're running from the awful world out there, you're welcome here."_

 _Cole stepped aside and allowed Leo to step through the doorway._

 _"Who's this?" A woman asked._

 _She was about 5'2, and her brown hair was highlighted with vibrant orange and lime green. She had a nose piercing and a stud in her eyebrow; she wore short shorts and a brown T-shirt torn nearly to shreds. A black jackets covered her shoulders._

 _"This is Leo Valdez, new member of the family," Cole stated. "Leo, this is Hannah. She's the mother of the family."_

 _"Nice to meet you," Leo said._

 _Hannah smiled. "The pleasure's all mine."_

 _"How many kids are here, anyway?" Leo asked._

 _"Seven, including you," Cole said. "Let me introduce you to a few of them."_

 _Cole escorted Leo through several 'walls' (really, just more blankets), and he stopped beside three kids a little younger than Leo playing a board game._

 _"These are Natalie, Carson, and Natasha," Cole told Leo, gesturing to each child as he said their name. "Kids, this is Leo. He's your new brother."_

 _The kids waved hello before continuing their game._

 _Cole lead Leo a little farther down before knocking on the wall beside a blue tent._

 _A girl around fifteen crawled out._

 _"This is Luka," Cole told him. "Luka, Leo."_

 _"Welcome to the fam," the girl replied._

 _Cole walked a few more feet before rounding a pillar and tapping a boy of thirteen on the shoulder._

 _"This is Nathan," Cole said. "Nathan, Leo."_

 _Nathan smiled. "You're gonna love it here, kid."_

 _"And last but not least," Cole laughed, "Molly."_

 _He gestured to a girl of four leaning against the wall, swallowed by tons of blankets. She peaked out, shyly, and smiled._

 _"She was abandoned by her parents a few months ago," Cole murmured. "One of our old members, Aria, quite literally stumbled across her. She likes to hide in the blankets because that's how she hid from creeps on the street. By hiding in garbage piles, towels, and such."_

 _Leo nodded, smiling down at the little girl._

 _"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Molly. I'm Leo," he said, sticking out a hand to her._

 _She tentavely stuck her own out of the pile of fabric and shook Leo's hand._

 _"Well, I'm going to leave you to get acquainted with your siblings," Cole smiled. "See you later."_

"That's... kind of sweet," Annabeth stated. "I don't exactly agree with the street family thing, but I thing it's a sweet thing to do."

"I remember that street family," Percy smiled. "I used to walk past them on my way to school."

Percy's grin dropped so suddenly, Annabeth jumped.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"I just remember what happened to the street family," he whispered. "You'll have to see for yourself."

Annabeth didn't like the sound of that.

 _The image changed to display an abandoned skate boarding park. The pipes were old and rusty; leaves had collected at the bottoms of the ramps. This place hadn't been used in a long time._

 _Nathan and Luka were standing alongside Leo beside one of the pipes._

 _"We're going to start relatively easy," Luka told Leo. "Free running is fun, but it's also a delicate art and requires a lot of practice. Otherwise, you're going to have a lot of hospital visits."_

 _Luka stood directly in front of the pipe before sprinting forward._

 _She pushed off with her feet a foot from the pipe, and her fingers wrapped around it, so that she was in a handstand. She didn't hold it long, though; she pushed off with all her strength, did a somersault in mid air, and landed on her feet._

"No way," Jason muttered. "I've known people that have trained for decades, and they couldn't do that, but these kids look like they expect Leo to get it on his first try."

 _Leo took a deep breath before following Luka._

 _He did pretty well, actually. He pushed off with his feet and gripped the bar with his hands; he remained in a shaky handstand for thirty seconds before pushing off. Leo managed the somersault, although it was not tight and he flailed his arms a little towards the end. Leo's feet connected with the ground, and he stumbled back and fell on his back._

"Not too bad," Frank said. "I couldn't do _that_ on my _sixth_ try, much less my _first_."

Nods of agreement responded to his statement.

 _The screen displayed several of Leo's free running attempts on several different occassions. By the last, he was an expert._

 _The image settled on the hideaway where the street family lived. All of the kids, except for Molly, were sitting in a circle around a deck of cards._

 _"Got any threes?" Natalie asked._

 _"Go fish," Leo replied._

 _"Le... o."_

 _The kids turned to see Molly, out of her cocoon of blankets, staring at them._

Words scrawled across the screen:

 **Molly only comes out of her bundle to eat, and even then, she wears a blanket wrapped around her head like a sha, displaying only her face. Molly has never spoken. Many thought she didn't know how; Cole had to ask around for her back story.**

 _Molly pointed at herself, and the kids appeared perplexed before Leo smiled in realization._

 _"Of course you can play," Leo told her, scooting over to make room. "We'll start over and deal you in."_

 _Molly sat down and watched as cards appeared before her._

The image changed.

 _At first, nothing looked different. The kids were still playing a card game (although it was Uno this time), and Cole and Hannah were standing behind them, watching the kids with the affection of parents._

 _"Cole Macksha?"_

 _Cole turned, and a man in a gray suit glowered at him._

 _"Yes?" Cole asked._

 _The man sighed before forcing Cole to turn around and fishing hand cuffs from his pocket._

 _"Cole Macksha, you're under arrest for stealing, shop lifting, and robbery. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law..." The man droned on._

Words scribbled across the screen:

 **Cole had to steal to help the children. He stole food and clothes along with other things, such as jewelry, to sell in exchange for money to buy necessities. Cole didn't like stealing, but when you're on the street, it's necessary.**

 _The man's partner, a younger man with dark hair, stared at the children._

 _"You're all going to have to come with us," he told them._

 _"Kids, SCATTER!" Cole shouted._

 _The cards were dropped to the floor, and children ran in every direction. The second police officer caught two (Natalie and Carson) before they'd gone two feet._

 _The first policeman shoved a hand cuffed Cole to the ground and grabbed Hannah, Natasha, and Nathan, wrestling them backward._

 _Luka raced out of the shelter with the second policeman on her tail, and Leo picked up Molly and ran for dear life._

 _"Leo!" Molly sobbed._

 _"I know, Molly," Leo panted, sprinting at top speed and weaving through the streets. "It's all going to be okay."_

 _Leo raced into an alleyway and found himself at dead end._

 _The cop's footsteps were hurriedly approaching._

 _Leo took a deep breath before dropping Molly into the dumpster and hopping in after her._

 _"Molly, hide!" Leo hissed._

 _Molly and Leo burrowed into the trash bags, completely covering themselves in them until not one strand of hair poked out._

 _All was silent._

 _A cop raced into the alley._

 _"I could've sworn they ran in here," he muttered before unclipping his walkie talkie from his belt and speaking into it. "I called for back up. They're watching the criminal, the woman, and the kids. Did you catch the girl?"_

 _"I've got her," a garbled voice responded._

 _"Good. I lost the two young ones. They're only about ten and four; they'll turn up when they get hungry enough," the cop sighed before leaving the alley._

 _"Leo," Molly whimpered._

 _Leo unraveled himself from the trash bags and helped Molly stand. Together, they climbed out of the dumpster._

 _"Leo?" Molly repeated, tears of fear streaming down her face._

 _Leo sighed. "Don't worry, Molly. I'm going to take care of us. I promise."_

The screen went black.

There wasn't a dry eye in the room.

* * *

 _I know there wasn't a whole lot of dialogue, but the main purpose is to show the seven the memories. There's some dialogue, but there isn't a lot of it until Leo wakes up._

 _Next chapter will be about Molly and Leo on the street and what happened to them._

 _Thanks for reading._


	8. She's All I've Got!

_Hello, here's another chapter! I am on fire this week._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

 ** _WARNINGS: SOME MINOR VIOLENCE AND A SAD ENDING_**

* * *

 _The screen displayed a dark alleyway, and Leo and Molly were sitting on some old blankets._

 _Leo sighed as he went from a sitting position to a kneeling one._

 _"Okay, Molly," he whispered. "I have to go get some supplies, okay? I want you to hide in the blankets, and if anyone tries to hurt you, use this."_

 _Leo handed Molly a pocket knife._

"He's giving a four year old a knife?" Annabeth squawked.

Words scribbled themselves across the screen:

 **It was necessary. If Leo hadn't given Molly a knife, she could've been kidnapped or killed or hurt or... I'm sure you can fill in the rest of the blanks.**

Annabeth blushed. "She's right. Sorry."

 _Molly gripped the handle and held it close to her chest as she burrowed into the pile of ratty blankets._

 _"Okay, Molly, don't leave this pile. If I'm not back by midnight, you go to the street family hideout. You stay there for a day; if I'm not there by midnight tomorrow, assume something happened and fend for yourself until I can get back to you. Don't use the knife unless you absolutely need to," Leo instructed._

 _Molly nodded._

 _"Good. I'll be back soon."_

 _Leo stood and exited the alleyway, keeping his backpack close to him as he walked through the streets of New York and entered a store._

 _The son of Hephaestus wandered the aisles before stopping in the junk food section, and he glanced left and right before stuffing several bags of chips, cookies, and crackers into his backpack._

"He's stealing..." Annabeth muttered before her gaze softened as Leo's face turned towards the screen, revealing his gaunt cheeks and sunken in eyes. "I guess it was necessary."

 _Leo moved on, and after looking around the nearly empty store (it was obviously late), he tore open a pack of water bottles and stuffed a bunch into his backpack, followed by a package of juice boxes._

 _The Latino walked, casually, to the clothes section and tossed three outfits (two girl, one boy) into his backpack._

"Is that thing bottomless?" Frank asked, trying to lighten the mood.

The six laughed.

"Yeah. Reminds me of my stepmom's purse," Annabeth chuckled.

Percy nodded. "I remember the last time I saw her stepmom. She had that purse, and I swear she could knock somebody out with it."

 _Leo grabbed two candy bars, a bag of chips, and two bottles of soda before walking up to the counter and placing them there._

 _The clerk rang him up, and Leo paid with a ten, getting a few quarters in return before heading for the door._

 _Leo grabbed a bag of chips off of a shelf and discreetly dropped it into another woman's cart just as she was walking out. The machine beeped, and a man had the woman come back through before smiling at Leo as the boy continued out of the store._

 _Leo ran through the streets, and he arrived at the alleyway, where he called for Molly to come out of her bundle._

 _Molly crept from the folds of fabric, and she stared at Leo, hopefully._

 _"Now, Molly, I know you're hungry, but we need to make this food last, okay?" Leo said. "Half a candy bar each for tonight."_

 _Molly nodded, and Leo broke one of the candy bars into two even pieces._

 _"Eat slowly, Molly. It'll make it last longer," Leo advised._

 _Molly nodded as she took a bite and chewed, slowly._

 _Molly finished her's first, and her stomach still growled loudly in the silence of the night._

 _Leo smiled and handed her half of his piece, which Molly excepted, gratefully, and devoured_.

"He's so selfless," Hazel muttered.

"I can't believe we didn't realize that sooner," Piper mumbled, sadly.

The image changed.

 _"Some brats are gonna die today," a boy with crooked teeth smirked, patting his baseball bat against his palm._

 _He towered over Leo, who stood in front of Molly._

 _"John, we didn't mean any harm," Leo was saying._

 _John tutted. "And yet, you did harm. You stole from us."_

 _"John, I needed to feed her-"_

 _"I don't care. That fifty bucks was ours!"_

 _"No, it wasn't," Leo snapped. "You stole it from that man on the street. Pick pocket."_

 _John rolled his eyes. "Pay us back, and we'll forget this whole thing ever happened."_

 _"John, I only have twenty," Leo said, desperately. "You can check."_

 _"Well, I guess you'll have to pay the other thirty with your **bones** ," John said, taking a menacing step forward and raising the bat._

 _"Wait, John. At least don't make Molly watch!" Leo cried._

 _John stopped. "Twenty seconds," he settled on._

 _Leo knelt in front of Molly and hissed in her ear._

 _"Go, Mol. Go to the old hide out and hide in the blankets until I get there. Go!"_

 _Molly looked like she wanted to protest, but her fear won her over. She ran like her shoes were on fire._

 _Leo turned back to John._

 _John smirked. "I'm going to enjoy this."_

 _He raised the bat, and the screen went black_.

"He risked his life to protect Molly," Jason murmured.

"Did you expect any different?" Percy asked.

"Nope," Jason responded.

The image flickered to life.

 _"Leo, what happened to your mommy? Did she leave you like mine did?" Molly questioned, curiously._

 _Leo sighed, leaning against the brick wall behind him._

 _"No," he replied. "My mama died. She... she was wonderful."_

 _"Could you tell me a story about her?" Molly asked, yawning and rubbing her eyes._

 _Leo laughed. "I will, but only if you promise to go to bed after I'm done."_

 _Molly nodded, eagerly, scrambling onto Leo's lap._

 _"Okay... how about... the story about my 'special' tests? It sounds boring, but trust me, my mom was hilarious._ "

 _The image changed to display a huge room with tons of toys. Leo was currently in the corner, building a fortress out of Legos._

 _"Ms. Valdez-" a stout man with very little hair on his head and a mustache began._

 _Leo's mom shook her head. "No, Mr. Watson. I agree that Leo should be in some enrichment classes, but sending him to Sherrad?" (Sherrad is a totally made up place by the way)_

Annabeth's jaw dropped.

"What is it?" Percy asked.

"Sherrad," Annabeth said, slowly, still trying to wrap her head around this, "is one of the best schools in the country. Only the smartest kids go there. I've never met one person at camp who has, not even my siblings. Mathematicians, doctors, scientist, famous authors... a lot of them go there, and that's only the tip of the ice berg."

"So... you're saying Leo's a genius?" Jason asked.

"If they're considering sending him to Sherrad, yes."

The image resumed.

 _"He'd be on scholarship!" Mr. Watson added._

 _Esperanza sighed. "It isn't the money. I have nothing against Sherrad; it's a great school, but Leo needs the chance to be a kid. This school teaches people to compete from day one, and most of the kids are middle school age or higher."_

 _"Ms. Valdez, we gave your son some tests to make sure he was at grade level. It was on the computer, so it got harder as the test went on. It went all the way to college level, not that we expected anyone to get there. Your son's history is a little rusty, and his English score is below grade level. However, his science score was that of someone in their junior year in high school, and his math... he's a six year old doing Calculus! You must reconsider."_

 _"Well, I'm sorry, Mr. Watson, if I'd rather have my son be a genius surrounded by kids who he can actually talk to than be an overworked boy talking about formulas and quadratics with a bunch of old guys. Sue me."_

 _Mr. Watson sighed. "Let's make a compromise."_

 _Esperanza leaned back in her chair. "Fire away, Mr. Baldson."_

The six were rolling.

 _Mr. Watson raised an eyebrow before continuing._

 _"Leo skips one grade. If he doesn't tell anyone, no one will know his real age. Therefore, they'll treat him like any other classmate. Leo takes math and science enrichment classes at the high school in the morning. After he's finished with both classes, you can pick him up and drive him to the elementary school."_

 _Esperanza smiled. "You have a deal."_

 _The two shook hands before Esperanza turned and went to get Leo._

 _She stopped beside a fortress nearly as tall as her made of several Legos._

 _"Mijo," she called, "It's time to go."_

 _"Coming, mamá," Leo replied from within._

 _A moment later, the front half of the fortress swung open, like a door, and Leo slipped out of it before closing the door._

 _"How did he..." Mr. Watson muttered. "What did he use as hinges?"_

 _"Legos!" Leo replied._

 _Mr. Watson blinked in shock._

 _Esperanza shrugged. "I'm a mechanic; his father was a blacksmith; it's in his blood."_

 _She took Leo's hand, and Mr. Watson was left standing at the impossible creation of a six year old._

"Do you guys know what this means?" Piper said.

"Leo's a genius?" Percy asked.

"Mr. Watson is kind of a jerk?" Jason added.

"Leo's mom is awesome?" Frank said.

"Well... yes, but I mean, if Leo skipped a grade, does that mean he's a year younger than us?"

The others blinked.

"Oh my gosh, you're right," Annabeth mumbled before marking that down on the quiz.

The image changed back to Leo and Molly.

 _"How'd you like the story, Mo-" Leo was interrupted by Molly's loud snore._

 _Leo laughed. "Good night, Molly."_

The image transformed.

 _Leo sat in a plastic chair with Molly in his lap._

Words typed across the screen:

 **Leo and Molly got picked up by social services while walking past the old hide out.**

 _"Leo, I'm sorry," Martin sighed, standing in front of them. "We found a home for Molly, but they only house girls."_

 _Leo looked up. "What? You can't just separate us! After all we've been through?"_

 _"Leo, I'm sorry," Martin whispered as a woman pried Molly from Leo's arms._

 _Molly went berserk. She screamed and cried and shouted Leo's name, kicking and hitting the woman to the point where a red haired female had to come help._

 _"LEO!" Molly shouted as she was carried down the hall._

 _"Molly!" Leo yelled, fighting against Martin as the social worker held him back. "Please, she's all I have!"_

 _"LEO!" Molly repeated as she was carried farther and farther away._

 _"I WILL FIND YOU, MOLLY! I PROMISE!"_

 _Molly disappeared down the hall, and Leo collapsed into Martin's arms._

 _"I promise," Leo reiterated, although Molly could no longer hear him. "I promise."_

And if there was one thing the rest of the seven knew about Leo Valdez, it was that he always kept his promises.

* * *

 _On a scale of 1-10, how was this chapter? (I said don't be surprised if I ask you this a lot)_

 _Next chapter... get your tissues and your baseball bats ready. Clear your schedule because you will spend at least an hour cursing me for doing this to Leo._

 _Bye!_


	9. His Worst Foster Home

_Sorry this update took so long. Honestly, I've been kind of reluctant to update this story. Not because I don't like the story line, but some parts of the story are really hard to write._

 _Some of you will recognize this foster home from one of my other fanfics._

 ** _Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or HOO_**

 ** _WARNINGS: MENTIONS OF RAPE, MURDER_**

* * *

 **"Leo, if you liked the Gerans so much, why'd you run away?" Martin asked, curiously, as they pulled up in front of the house of Leo's new foster parent.**

 **"I got scared," Leo said, vaguely.**

 **"Did they hurt you?" Martin asked in concern. He hadn't noticed any injuries caused by abuse, but it had been quite a few months ago.**

 **Leo swallowed. "I wasn't scared of them. On my way home from school, I saw something I wasn't supposed to see. I panicked-"**

 **"And you did what most kids do when they're scared: you ran away," Martin finished.**

 **"And lost the only good foster family I've had."**

 **"Leo, they wanted to take you back in, but this man was already lined up. Besides, he's had many foster kids, and none of them have complained. I know him myself. He's a very nice man, Leo," Martin said, reassuringly.**

 **"You said that about Sir, too," Leo muttered before getting out of the car.**

 **Martin sighed before following the boy up to the front door and knocking, lightly.**

 **The man was tall, so tall he towered over Leo. He had neatly combed brown hair and blue eyes; his skin was pale, and his nose was short and thick. He was dressed in a striped, button up shirt with khakis.**

 **"Hello," he greeted before kneeling down and holding out a hand to Leo. "I'm Dr. Jordan Speck. You can just call me Jordan, though."**

 **Leo nodded and shook the man's hand, not opening his mouth, but Jordan seemed to expect that.**

 **"We have a scheduled visit in two weeks," Martin said. "Until then, be good, Leo."**

 **He glanced at Jordan before leaning down and whispering to Leo, "He seems like a nice guy, but call me if you need anything."**

 **Leo nodded.**

 **"Okay. I'll see you in two weeks, kiddo."**

 **Martin returned to his car, and Jordan lead Leo inside. He escorted the scrawny boy into the kitchen, where a boy was seated at the table.**

 **He was short and maybe a little older than Leo with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans, and he was eating some vanilla ice cream (although he had a strange look plastered over his face as he reluctantly consumed the dairy treat). He was in a wheelchair and barely glanced up when they entered the room as his eyes became glued to the table.**

 **"Here you go," Jordan said as he sat Leo down in a chair beside the blonde boy. "What kind of ice cream do you like- strawberry, chocolate, or vanilla?"**

 **"Vanilla, please," Leo stated before Jordan exited the room.**

 **"Jordan told me about you," the blonde boy whispered. "You run away a lot?"**

 **Leo shrugged. "I wouldn't say a lot. Only when I need to."**

 **"Trust me, you need to. Get out while you can," the boy murmured.**

"I don't like the sound of that," Percy muttered.

 **Leo frowned. "What?"**

 **The boy snapped his lips closed as Jordan reentered the room and placed a bowl of ice cream in front of Leo.**

 **"Leo, this is Chance. He's my other foster kid. Chance, this is Leo."**

 **"Nice to meet you," Leo said.**

 **Chance nodded. "You, too."**

 **"Well, I'll leave you two to get acquainted. Chance, remember what I told you," Jordan said with a pointed glance. "I hope you'll enjoy your stay here, Leo," he added, brushing Leo's hair behind his ear and making the said boy freeze (after all, he barely knew this man).**

"I have a bad feeling about this," Annabeth whispered. "Something is way off here; you don't have to be a genius to figure that out."

Piper nodded. "I agree."

Jordan exited the room.

" **What did he tell you?" Leo asked, running his hands through the hair Jordan had touched, as though trying to rub away any trace of the man.**

 **Chance blinked. "Like I said… get out while you can."**

 **Leo didn't push it (for now), and he returned to his food.**

The image changed.

 **Leo was sitting on the couch, and Dr. Speck was sitting on the other end of the sofa. Chance was in his wheelchair beside Leo's end of the couch, and they were all watching a cartoon… Kung Fu Panda.**

"Doesn't Leo always freak out when we play that cartoon?" Percy questioned.

"Yeah," Jason answered. "I asked why he hated it so much, and he just said bad memories and walked away. I didn't ask him again after that."

"That can't be good," Frank murmured.

 **Suddenly, the world became blurry, and Leo groaned as he clutched his head.**

 **"Are you okay?" Jordan asked.**

 **"Dizzy," Leo mumbled.**

 **"Well, why don't you go lay down for a while?" Jordan asked.**

 **Leo nodded and went to stand, but he stumbled, and Jordan lunged forward to catch him.**

 **"Woah, easy, there," the man laughed before picking the boy up and carrying him down the hall.**

 **"Don't worry, Leo. Everything will be all right…"**

And then the screen faded to black.

"What happened?" Hazel murmured. "Did he get sick?"

"I don't think so…" Piper murmured. "I think I know what happened, but I _hope_ that I'm wrong."

 **The screen flickered to life to display Leo laying on his bed, and the Latino boy stirred before lifting his head and frowning.**

 **He lifted his arm and stared at the material of his pajamas in confusion.**

 **I didn't go to sleep in my pajamas… His thoughts echoed across the screen. So how… probably better not to think about that…**

 **Leo sat up and headed down the hall to find Chance sitting at the table with his head lying on his arms. Jordan was sitting beside him, and Leo seated himself in the chair across from Chance.**

 **"What happened?" Leo asked, rubbing his forehead in pain.**

 **"You had a dizzy spell, probably brought on by dehydration. Drink as much as you can," Jordan advised, handing Leo a bottle of apple juice.**

 **Leo sipped the juice and mimicked Chance's position by placing his head in his hands.**

 **Jordan rubbed Leo's back, and Leo was experiencing too much pain and exhaustion to tense at the sudden contact.**

 **"You'll feel better in a few hours," he said , softly. "I guarantee it."**

 **The scene changed to that of Leo's bedroom. It was dark outside, but Leo's bag was still lying on the floor, unpacked, which meant it was probably the same day.**

 **Leo was lying on his bed in his clothes, asleep with an empty bottle of apple juice on the nightstand. Jordan was seated beside him, and he was rubbing Leo's knee in a rather creepy fashion.**

Annabeth gasped, and they all spun around to face her. They were shocked to see tears filling her eyes; she'd obviously discovered the truth behind the hints and foreshadowing in the earlier memories of this foster home.

"What is it?" Percy whispered.

Annabeth shook her head; she couldn't bear to say it aloud, so she pointed at the screen.

 **Jordan reached over and began to unzip Leo's jeans.**

The rest of the seven froze as the truth hit them like a ton of bricks, and tears flowed down their faces.

How could Leo- funny, kind, helpful, selfless Leo- go through so much pain in his life and still manage to smile and make people laugh everyday?

 **Leo stirred and groaned, shifting in his bed before slowly opening his eyes.**

 **"What are you doing?" Leo murmured.**

 **"Shh, it's okay," Jordan whispered, beginning to pull off Leo's jeans.**

 **"No. Don't touch me," Leo cried, fighting against the man weakly. "No!"**

 **"Shh, calm down, and this won't hurt," Jordan told him.**

 **"NO! Please!" Leo's screams grew loud and frantic, and Jordan remained calm as he covered Leo's mouth and finished pulling off the boy's pants. He reached for his boxers.**

 **Leo screamed, the sound muffled by the man's hand. Tears streamed down his cheeks.**

The screen abruptly went black.

By the end of the memory, the rest of the seven were sobbing openly, even the strongest of them, who never cried, like Jason and Percy and Annabeth.

Why did Leo have to go through so much pain in his life? He didn't deserve it. No one did…

 **The screen flickered to life, and it revealed another blonde boy, this time with green eyes and not in a wheelchair. He looked nervous, but not nearly as nervous as Leo had when he arrived at the foster home.**

 **"Leo, Chance, this is Chad," Jordan was saying with a bright smile. "Chad, meet my other foster kids, Leo and Chance."**

 **Leo and Chance waved nervously, watching sadly as Chad was handed a bottle of orange juice, undoubtedly laced with drugs.**

 **"We're going to do things a little different tonight. Leo, Chance, go sit in the living room. Chad, come along," Jordan said, leading the new kid into the living room and glancing at his watch, probably waiting for the drugs to kick in.**

 **A few moments later, Chad began to hunch over as exhaustion tugged him down. Jordan took him by the shoulders and gently laid him on the floor.**

 **"Leo, go get my video camera," Jordan said, and Leo blanched as he realized Jordan's plan, but he didn't dare disobey the man as he slipped out of the room and into the master bedroom, where he found the video camera sitting on the bed side table.**

 **Leo rushed back into the room and handed the camera to Jordan, who set it up and began to pull off Chad's clothes while the drugged and weakened boy tried to fight him off.**

 **"Wait," Leo cried, and he got on his knees in front of Jordan, who watched him in vague interest. "Jordan, please, don't hurt him. Hurt me instead," Leo begged.**

The seven were left in shock.

"Leo was willing to go through that _torture_ just to save that boy?" Percy murmured. "I'm not sure _I_ could've done that."

"I wouldn't have been able to," Jason admitted.

Maybe they had underestimated how great Leo's character truly was…

An old saying Annabeth had heard once echoed through her mind, making her heart ache even more:

 _The loneliest people are the kindest._

 **"You'll get your turn," Jordan assured Leo before resuming his activities.**

The screen thankfully went black, but they could still hear Chad's cries, and Leo's shaky breathing as he and Chance were forced to watch.

The scene changed.

 **Leo, Chad, and Chance (who was out of his wheelchair) sat trembling on the couch, clutching each other like life lines.**

 **Jordan beckoned to Leo.**

 **"Stand, boy," he commanded.**

 **On shaking legs, Leo stood and walked to the center of the living room.**

 **"Strip."**

At this, the screen mercifully went black, but it still hurt to know that Leo had to go through something like this.

 **When Jordan was done, Leo slowly sat on the couch, biting his lip to stop himself from crying out in pain.**

 **Speck dragged Chance to his feet and gestured for him to strip.**

 **Chance shook his head.**

 **"Now," Jordan growled, any trace of kindness giving way to anger. Obviously, none of the kids had dared to disobey him before.**

 **Chance shook his head.**

 **Speck grabbed Chance and shoved him into a wall.**

 **A CRACK sounded.**

The seven froze. No. Had Speck actually… had Leo witnessed…

 **Chance slumped forward.**

 **Speck panicked. He raced across the floor and started shaking Chance, but Chance refused to wake up.**

 **Speck took Chance's pulse and cursed.**

 **"Get up!" He growled before dragging Chance off, ensuring that no blood got on the floor.**

 **Leo and Chad obediently leapt to their feet, crying silent tears as their foster brother's body was taken away.**

 **Speck returned with paint cans and instructions to paint over the blood on the wall before the man raced back to his bedroom.**

 **Leo and Chad did what Jordan asked, afraid of being next.**

"I can't even imagine how they were feeling," Hazel whimpered. "How could someone be so cruel?"

"I don't know, Hazel," Frank murmured, his voice quivering.

 **After Leo and Chad were done, Jordan tossed the paint cans in the dumpster three blocks from the building.**

 **When the man returned, he grabbed Leo's wrist and injected something into Leo's arm.**

The world became a blurry mess of colors, and for several moments, only brief, fuzzy moments flashed across the screen.

Words typed across the screen:

 _Due to the drugs, Leo's memories weren't fully formed._

Finally, the scene rested on a scene of Leo lying in a hospital bed.

 **Leo opened his eyes, and for a few moments, he seemed confused and disoriented before he began to cry as the memories crashed over him.**

 **Voices sounded from the hallway, and Leo froze.**

 **One of the voices was hauntingly familiar to Leo…**

 **Jordan Speck.**

 **Panic flashed across Leo's face, and he leaped out of the window without a second thought. He didn't even bother to change out of his hospital gown as he sprinted down the street.**

The screen went black, and white letters appeared on the screen.

 _It was Leo's worst foster home._

Annabeth's shaking hand circled letter B on question eleven.

* * *

 _The scene where Chance died was taken almost directly from my other fanfiction Pasts Best Left Buried._

 _Thanks for reading! And I am honestly not sure what will happen in the next chapter. I think it'll be a relatively happy one, but I can't make any promises. I might decide to add something in, so the mood for the next chapter is unknown._

 _Goobye, everyone! See you next time!_


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